Grin Brand Creation, Brand Signature, Packaging Design and Communications
Giving natural oral care more than just a sticky name.
Grin just made you well... want to Grin. It's a word you can't hold in your mind without smiling... or at least the corners of your mouth turning up a smidgeon.
Client
Grin Brand Creation, Brand Signature, Packaging Design and Communications
Project
Brand creation, Packaging and Communications
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Year
2014
-
2023
Role
Creative Director, Designer
Agency
DNA Design and Provenance
Category
Natural Oral Care
Contributors
Tara Tan – Client
Paul Stokes – Client
Grenville Main – Oversight
Scott Newlands – Artwork
Jo Maguire – Artwork
New Zealand's oral care market was brimming with natural toothpastes and eco-friendly toothbrushes. Standing out was a challenge. Big players relied on tired marketing formulas and "Big Chem" packaging, leaving a gap for a brand focused on clean, pure ingredients.
Grin Natural Products came in as a competitor. It promoted natural ingredients that were both effective ("straight up and simple; efficacious") and good for you ("appealing to adults and children...natural ingredients...without the nasties"). Grin stood out because it had sea salt, magnolia bark extract, manuka oil, and bee propolis, among other things. Everything, from the product itself to the packaging, was made with a low impact on the environment and used only natural ingredients from New Zealand.
The name itself was carefully chosen. After meticulous selection, "Grin" emerged – a single word that conjures a pure smile in the mind. Simplicity and clarity extended to the brand and packaging. Crisp colors hinted at flavors, while rich dark blues provided presence and solidity.
Grin's ambition was bold: to develop a natural oral hygiene line that, after conquering New Zealand, could be successfully exported to China. This "small player in the alternative health sector" quickly gained traction. Foodstuffs, the owner of New World supermarkets, began stocking Grin nationwide. Additionally, tertiary resellers are steadily increasing imports into China.
The brand voice had to work at a lot of different places. When they were first starting out, there was a lot of oversight as they built the brand and product line. This made the delivery more consistent.
Grin meanwhile has become a household name in New Zealand and really has rocked the category.
Brand and packaging are one thing, but positioning a product such as Grin in a busy consumer market demanded a breakthrough execution; knitting together anti-animal cruelty and sparkling white teeth.
The brand voice had to work at a lot of different places. When they were first starting out, there was a lot of oversight as they built the brand and product line. This made the delivery more consistent.
The launch was extremely successful, both onshore, and in China which was one of the main objectives. There was so much demand that the supply had to be carefully managed to meet it.