Umi by Pearlfisher
28 October 2008 | By Popsop Team
The leading UK design consultancy Pearlfisher created the new Waitrose’s premium toiletry range Umi.
Waitrose is famed and trusted for its food expertise but was seeking to extend that expertise into other areas, particularly the personal care category. Overall the personal care market is fairly static. However, within the supermarket environment there is a growing market for premium skin, hair and body care, with competitors including Tesco and Sainsbury’s extending or re-launching their ranges. The Waitrose premium toiletries range had to communicate luxury, quality and expertise in skin, hair and body care, as well as enhance Waitrose’s reputation beyond food and achieve a 20 per cent sales increase on the premium range it was replacing.
The Design
Pearlfisher designed a range called umi, which combines premium cues and food cues to create a covetable and distinctive range of products. The simple pink and brown label design communicates quality while the copy echoes food writing by concentrating on aroma, texture and ingredients. Given the freedom to choose packaging structure, Pearlfisher went for a diverse range of bottles and jars reminiscent of food packaging. A variety of products have been unified into a simple but luxurious range.
The Results
Value sales of umi are up 48 per cent on the premium toiletries range it replaced. Although some products have seen retail sales price increases, volume sales have also increased. For example face cream sales have increased by 575 per cent, bodywash by 20 per cent and body souffle by 120 per cent, despite price increases of between 7 and 25 per cent. In the 12 weeks from the end of April 2005, Waitrose’s share of the bath and shower market grew by 16.2 per cent, while other supermarkets’ growth average was 3.4 per cent. Its share of the haircare market has grown by 19.9 per cent, compared to other supermarkets’ growth of 8.4 per cent and in skincare the growth was 25.4 per cent compared with 13.7 per cent.
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Tags: Pearlfisher, personal care
