Even the biggest personal care businesses can think outside the box when it comes to reinvigorating their leading brands. That is exactly what Colgate-Palmolive did with with its venerable Softsoap brand, which enjoys the No. 1 spot in the global liquid hand soap category as well as the second position in body soaps worldwide.

Softsoap team members gathered at HBA to provide insight into how the company worked together with futurists and outside agencies to better zoom in on consumers’ wants and needs to tweak the brand to keep it fresh and modern.

Led by Marc Speichert, director of personal care innovation at Colgate,a panel representing all aspects of the process—brand management, market research experts, branding and packaging—discussed the brand’s packaging redesign as well as the launch of its newest product, Softsoap Nutriserum Body Wash, which hit stores last month.

For starters, the brand relied on information culled by a proprietary Young & Rubicam study to find out where any potential vulnerabilities may lie, despite the fact that the brand has proven to be a consistent leader in its space.The goal was to find the characteristics to help the brand stay energized and give it differentiation in the market.

The process also involved working with futurists who led them on field trips, looking at colors, scents and other businesses far removed the soap aisle—think toy and candy stores, vendors in Chinatown in New York City, meetings with plastic surgeons and dermatologists, gathering information from kitchen and bathroom design shows—all to learn more about what consumer’s future needs would be.

“It was helpful to redefine how we look at personal care. In the past we had a narrow approach; we were looking in our own retail environment. At the end of the day, we are still selling there, but our consumer is shopping and is exposed to all these different markets and places,” said Mr. Speichert.