The recent revival of Final Touch fabric softener has garnered renewed interest among consumers once loyal to the neglected brand. The brand has undergone a transformation that started with the product formulation (adding new fragrances), included a new dryer sheets offering, and culminated in packaging graphics that reflect the new positioning.

“We found that this brand has a great name that is under-leveraged,” says Jonathan Asher, president of the New York office of Dragon Rouge, which developed the new identity and graphic approach. “It can be so much more than just fabric softener. It could be the brand to put the finishing touch on clothes in many ways.”

But first, the old package had to be revitalized to solidify the brand’s place on the shelf.

“The old package was hardly noticeable on the shelf and only reinforced the low price positioning, which provided little differentiation from the store brand,” explains Asher.

The new brandmark of a handwritten logo with a butterfly icon creates impact and provides considerable distinction as well as a contemporary and friendly impression. And, by adding the tagline “For that finishing touch”, Dragon Rouge anticipated the extendability of the brandmark for application to product line extensions that are now being planned.

Says creative director Kim Kelse Glooch, “We wanted to reinforce the softening benefit that Final Touch provides in a way that the brand could own. The stylized butterfly does that along with the casual-looking logo. And, by showing an outdoor field in the background, we communicate the specific fragrance and convey the sense of outdoors, a perfect metaphor for the freshness of just-washed clothes.”

Adds Lara Holliday, account director, “Final Touch needed a compelling story to take to the trade in order to stay on shelf. Having a low price as the primary reason for being was not compelling enough. The new label graphics create an immediate quality impression and are very attention getting. This makes the sell-in of a new fragrance and the new dryer sheets offering much easier.” BP

Packaging graphics and brand identity. At Dragon Rouge USA, contact Jonathan Asher at 212.367.8800 or jonathan@dragonrouge-usa.com.