Welcome to our Redesign of the Month series—where we spotlight one deserving brand harnessing the power of design to make an impact, tell a story, and outshine its previous packaging. Hundreds of current category consumers evaluate the old and new designs across a wide range of performance areas, including purchase preference, communication, mental availability, and design element resonance. Notably, Designalytics’ testing outcomes align with actual sales performance more than 90% of the time.
Cheers to this month’s redesign winner: Harry’s.
Perhaps more aptly named "David’s," this once-challenger brand has taken on the Goliaths of the razor industry with immense success—one colorful and affordable razor at a time. Impressively, Harry’s original packaging claimed the number one spot in our previous category rankings for men’s razors and blades, outperforming industry titans such as Gillette and Schick. When we noticed a redesign of this top-performing package, we promptly asked 600 category buyers to weigh in.
Although the bold pops of color strike an unmistakable contrast between old and new packaging, the overall concept of the designs are quite similar. In fact, the product claims, packaging structure, and product imagery are almost identical. If it isn’t broke, right?
The introduction of color as the focal point of the redesign has tickled consumers pink—or rather orange, blue, and green. It highlights the brand’s product improvements (its sharpest blades ever), providing a higher contrast between blade and background while showcasing the unique handle color. Additionally, bringing Harry’s color story to the forefront of its design provides product line uniformity.
Already a leader in the packaging game, Harry’s has doubled down on success with its chromatic new design. When consumers were asked which design they’d be more likely to purchase, 62% of consumers selected the new design, while only 38% preferred the old one.
Using color to differentiate products in the same line has become an increasingly popular trend in today’s Instagrammable world—one which makes sense for Harry’s, whose handle colors are the brand’s top-cited distinctive asset. According to consumers, the use of color evokes uplifting and energetic feelings and lends the brand an attractive, modern air.
This positive evocation of color bolsters Harry’s communication of key messages, as 63% of consumers claim the new design "makes my everyday routine enjoyable"—a top purchase-driving attribute in the category. Interestingly, the new design overshadows the old on nearly all key communication points, regardless of the minimal text changes to the package. Improving communication in a select few areas can sometimes create a positive halo effect, extending the impression to other purchase drivers as well.
Interestingly—and perhaps not intentionally—Harry’s new design evokes fewer gendered associations than its prior design, which tended to conjure associations with “men.” This may be a product of the brand’s bold use of color, as men’s personal care products have long adopted more muted coloring (think: Dove Men+Care with its staid gray bottle and Dollar Shave Club’s navy blue backdrops). Either way, gender-neutral packaging is in vogue.
For all the high-fives given to Harry's new design, the original reigns supreme on findability. Consumers can locate Harry's original design 3.7 seconds faster than its redesign with 14% better accuracy. This is undoubtedly due to the prior design’s decidedly more legible logo. Relatedly, the original design dominates the category on measures of distance recognition (a proxy for mental availability); consumers can identify the brand from a whopping 14.1 feet away, compared to 8.6 feet for the new design.
On its own, the data story behind findability sounds dire; a brand can’t be purchased if it can’t be found, right? However, there are multiple aspects to consider in this case. Lower findability is expected at some level with a redesign, with the further expectation it will improve once consumers acclimate to the new look. Additionally, findability ranks lower than other metrics (i.e., communication and purchase preference) when it comes to driving sales. Harry’s, in particular, may worry less about findability, as a sizable chunk of its distribution comes from e-commerce channels.
That said, there is an opportunity to enhance findability measures in future redesigns. According to consumers, the most problematic element of the new design is the execution of the brand’s logo. Consumers prefer the older and bolder alternative, with one consumer summarizing: “The name gets lost, blending into the background. I'd like the brand to be more boldly identified.”
Findability aside, the colorful new packaging has the green light from consumers.
Wins
Opportunities
“I like how the color adds contrast while complimenting the product image. It looks ready for business. Tough—and ready.”
Our goal behind highlighting impactful redesigns is to help brands understand market reactions to design changes and make intentional design decisions. We create a full report of these insightful case studies for every brand redesign in our cross-category database. These value-add tools are created automatically for our clients who subscribe to syndicated category data. For more information on this redesign report or others, contact us.