Anthem Worldwide in coloured redesign for Andrex

The yellow, blue and pink Andrex toilet tissue packets are being replaced by packs that feature a softer, more ‘natural’ colour palette, under the tagline ‘Colours of Nature’.

Brand-owner Kimberly-Clark hopes the new packaging will better match contemporary bathroom decor and entice younger consumers to buy coloured toilet roll.

It is a big beast of a job,’ says Andrex brand development manager Sophie Woodward. She says she appointed Anthem in February without a pitch, on the strength of its relationship with Kimberly-Clark’s preferred repro house Schawk, which owns Anthem.

While the packaging will change, the colours of the tissue will remain the same. ‘We thought we would have to change our colours, but in research we found that people perceived the colours of the tissue rolls as being stronger than they actually are due to the bold packaging. When framed by the new packs, people’s perceptions instantly changed,’ says Woodward.

The three new packs, called Aqua Spray, Natural Pebble and Pink Blossom, feature photographic images of sea spume, pebbles and blossoms.

‘The detergent market is huge on the theme of nature at the moment, as you can see by the new Persil packs, for example,’ says account director Alex Creed. ‘This is the way we are going with our bathrooms. No one uses pink or yellow suites like they used to.’

For the first time, the coloured toilet tissue packets will feature a pack-front window, through which the Andrex puppy peers. Anthem had initially depicted the puppy lifting the ‘flap’ with its mouth, but Andrex vetoed the idea.

‘The puppy isn’t allowed to bite anything or hold anything in its mouth. In ads, the toilet roll is only ever tied around him, never bitten,’ says Woodward.

Anthem has worked with Kimberly-Clark for the past two to three years, claims Creed. She says that last year Anthem implemented a packaging design by Turner Duckworth across all Andrex toilet tissue lines.

The new packaging rolls out from the end of this week.

ANDREX TISSUES

• In October, Buddy Creative designed a new patterned toilet tissue range and packaging for Andrex called the Winter Collection (DW 15 October)
• Andrex brand development manager Sophie Woodward describes Buddy Creative and Anthem as the ‘preferred design suppliers’ for Andrex
• There is no formal roster for Andrex, claims Woodward
• In 2006, Andrex softened the colours of its toilet tissue and reduced the range down from six shades. Big Idea redesigned the packaging for the relaunch (DW 16 March 2006)