Palmer’s Gets a Splash of Color

Skin Success gets a packaging makeover and new Eventone formula.

By Veronica MacDonald

The secret to packaging success is colors. That’s according to executives at E.T. Browne Drug Com-pany who recently re-vamped the Palmer’s Skin Success line. The packaging, which dated to the 1970s, was no doubt recognizable to loyal customers, yet its white coloring blended in with the crowd when potential buyers strolled down the isles.

“Our goal was to update packaging that has not been touched since the mid-1970s,”said Rebecca Brown, senior product manager, E.T. Browne Drug Co., Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ. “We made it more current with added shelf appeal while conveying a clean and fresh skin care-oriented theme.”

Eventone fade cream is specially designed to treat and prevent hyperpigmentation resulting from the aging process, sun exposure, minor scars, pregnancy or contraceptive use. Based on data collected from focus groups, E.T. Browne Drug Company executives selected modern colors to test on possible future packages. Color selections were limited, however, because company executives wanted to stay with the blue and green color scheme of the old packaging. The new packaging utilizes bright colors for differentiation such as fuchsia for regular skin, dark purple for oily skin and burnt orange for dry skin in addition to the recognizable blue and green. “We think that the new colors communicate very well from the shelf as opposed to white, which gets lost in the shuffle,” explained Ms. Brown.

In addition, executives tested the use of the company’s previously unused Eventone trademark to increase the message of he product. According to focus groups, the words “even” and “tone” clearly conveyed the desired skin-lightening effects of the formula, Ms. Brown insisted.

The new packaging also correlates with an updated Eventone formulation which includes the skin lightening ingredient hydroquinone, in addition to popular skin care ingredients—alpha hydroxy acids and vitamin C. These changes reflect current trends in the skin care market. The fragrance also evolved into a cleaner and more modern scent, said Ms. Brown.

In terms of packaging, the script changed ever so slightly and the package now has a completely different background highlighting an S-curve.

“The new package has an italicized font; the older font was pretty static,” she said. “In addition, the strong S-curve (on the backdrop) provides movement on the shelf. The dividing line further catches the eye. The S-shape is not overtly symbolic, but a subtle reminder of the Skin Success line,” she added.

Palmer’s ultimate goal is to be considered the expert on dark, discolored skin, Ms. Brown said. And though the Eventone target audience is African-American women ages 25-34, most women have or will have concerns about skin discoloration at some point in their lives.

“As women age, there are increasing problems with all kinds of skin, especially in the 40s and 50s when dark spots begin to appear,” Ms. Brown revealed. “The spots are prevalent on the face and hands due to sun exposure. Especially with the aging Baby Boomer population, there is an expanded market every year for women who are looking for fade products.” But, Ms. Brown noted, it is African-Americans who tend to experience the most skin discoloration throughout a lifetime.

The Skin Success line also includes treatment products such as Complex-ion soap, Exfoliating toner, Deep Cleansing astringent, Acne Medication cleanser, Invisible Acne Medication, Moisturizing cream and Moisturizing lotion. Products are available in drug and beauty supply stores nationwide and range in price from $2.29-6.89.