Kleenex keeps company among the many rare brands — like Band-Aid, Tupperware and Thermos — whose names have change into generic. Such ubiquity is a double-edged sword: in these cases, awareness is almost universal, however the brand is liable to commodification and competition from other corporations, private labels and market entrants. In the case of Kleenex, the brand could be replaced by other paper products and, in a pinch, shirt sleeves.
To ameliorate this issue and others, Kleenex recently launched a new global visual identity, bringing cohesion across markets and establishing a stronger brand personality that serves as a platform for creative storytelling. The effort is joined by a new campaign and comes as the Kimberly-Clark brand commemorates its one hundredth anniversary.
The marketing push also marks a pivot from a functional message to an emotional one which sees Kleenex deal with a brand promise around “helping people find strength in moments of on a regular basis vulnerability,” said Jennifer Kasmarick, director of creative excellence for Kleenex.
“We desired to take into consideration how we could update our visual identity to assist that story really land with impact,” the chief explained. “One of our predominant objectives was to infuse more meaning and personality into how we show up and create a really distinctive feel and appear for the brand.”
Meaningful change
In its 100-year history, Kleenex has seen its wordmark logo take different forms, including the 1961 rendition created by legendary designer Saul Bass. But in recent times, different versions of the emblem were floating across the globe, giving the brand — and Publicis Groupe design agency Turner Duckworth — a possibility to unify its visual identity.
“While many competitors far and wide claim to make facial tissues, there is simply one Kleenex,” said Andy Baron, executive creative director at Turner Duckworth, in a statement. “Every square inch of the new visual identity is designed to strengthen the brand’s category leadership (and invention, for that matter) through a suite of rigorously designed distinctive assets, and a system that brings them together.”
A Kleenex out-of-home ad
Courtesy of Kleenex
The new visual identity is centered on a crown device that houses the wordmark and creates a logo that nods to each Kleenex’s icon status and the image of a tissue being pulled out of a box. The identity also introduces a royal blue anchor color and a bespoke serif font created by type designers Alec Tear and Lewis Macdonald.
The brand and agency worked to infuse meaning into the design elements so that they do greater than look good: the distinctive assets also needed to assist amplify the brand’s storytelling and communication.
“The brand desires to find a way to talk in a range of tones across the spectrum of emotions and stories,” Kasmarick said. “There is a strength to [the font], but there’s still an approachability to it.”
Tear-jerking creative
Kleenex’s new identity is now survive TV and in short-form media spots that rolled out initially in North America. The brand’s new ad, “The big day,” demonstrates how the new visual identity involves life in a spot soundtracked by a cover of Bob Marley classic “Three Little Birds.”
Created by FCB Chicago, the ad plays into the high emotions of a child’s first day of college, with a voice-over noting, “You expected tears at drop off. You didn’t expect them… to be yours.” (The tears will likely not be limited to the parent within the spot however the parents watching it, as well.)
“We developed three new creative spots that display Kleenex is there to supply strength in raw, human, and vulnerable moments,” said John Starkey, president of family care at Kimberly-Clark, in emailed comments. “Consistently, we hear the varied ways individuals are using Kleenex, and it’s not only during cold and flu or allergy season. People are grabbing boxes of Kleenex once they laugh, they cry, and so way more.”
Along with TV ads, the visual identity will come to life in out-of-home ads and even brand merchandise, giving Kleenex a possibility to reassert itself across channels in a unified manner.
“There’s a huge opportunity to construct that mental memory structure,” Kasmarick said. “As an iconic brand, we wish to indicate up in a consistent and iconic way.”
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