Blistex was suffering from year-on-year sales decline and the brand was losing distribution in key stockists. A strategy and creative idea was required to build a differentiating brand property which Blistex could own, and win market share with in the long term.

Focused entirely on lipcare, with well-researched products and significantly better ingredients and formulations than their competitors, Blistex are the only brand on the market who can credibly claim lipcare expertise.

They offer a high-quality, specialised brand unparalleled in a market of competitors offering either low-priced, basic products or lipcare as an add-on to their skincare brands.

Our aim was to position Blistex as the specialists in the category so that when people think lips, they think Blistex.

In order for Blistex to talk directly to consumers, TV screens were filled with a close-up of beautiful, healthy-looking female lips explaining, in the style of a science lesson, the specialised ingredients that go into every product. It was an emotive, one-cut edit and gave Blistex a brand property that cut through in a crowded marketplace.

The campaign informed the consumer of the superior ingredients and science that goes into Blistex products whilst visually illustrating that the end result is always a gorgeous, healthy looking pair of lips.

The TV activity was supplemented by the creation of a new website which provided information on Blistex products and why they worked, providing credibility for the campaign strapline:

‘Blistex – the science behind gorgeous lips’.

Following the campaign, total Blistex sales increased by +4.6% for the year compared with competitors such as Nivea and Vaseline, who saw declining sales of -7.7% and -9.1% respectively.

Testimonial:

“Kindred looked at what the Blistex brand has to offer, really helping us to differentiate from the rest of the market. The brand idea which Kindred developed doesn’t only sit in advertising but can be rolled out across PR, the website and packaging. It’s a really integrated approach and exactly what the brand needed.” Sian Rimmer, Brand Manager, Blistex