Dual-spout mouthwash packaging activates solution when mixed
But first, history
Kenvue Inc.
Although some sources claim LISTERINE® ad men invented the term “halitosis,” its origins date back to 1874, five years before a doctor from Missouri invented Listerine as a surgical antiseptic.
It went trough a couple of rebrandings including floor cleaner, gonorrhea treatment, and even had its own menthol cigarette brand, before finally settling as the mouthwash that kills bad breath.
Dentists began using it for oral care in 1895, and it was first sold over the counter in 1914.
But Listerine wasn’t going to sell itself. First the company had to tell America it had a problem; only then would the cure be indispensable.
People with halitosis (unpleasant breath) simply don’t get by. It is the unforgivable social fault. You never know when you have it—that’s the insidious thing about it. Moreover, you are quite likely to have it, say dental authorities. Conditions present even in normal mouths constantly produce objectional odors.
—Listerine, 1930
Designing a dual-spout bottle
Triumph Pharmaceuticals’ SmartMouth Mouthwash provides 12-hour protection from bad breath by attacking the real source: sulfur gas that’s created when bacteria in your mouth react with protein molecules in saliva and food.
SmartMouth’s formula comes from two different solutions that release odor-neutralizing zinc ions when mixed. Originally, this meant selling the product in two separate bottles with pumps and a cup, requiring the consumer to pump three times from each bottle.
Consumers loved the mouthwash, but hated the pumps of the retail packaging design. That's when Nottingham Spirk stepped in tosolve the packaging problem and make a consumer-friendly dual-spout bottlethat mixed two separate mouthwash solutions on contact.
Innovation Insights
Plenty of companies talk about “customer-centered design,” but often what they mean is “designed to suit what we want customers to want,” not necessarily what the customers actually need. Innovative design that is truly customer-centric involves more than a singular focus group, including the brand-new delivery system we developed for SmartMouth™ Mouthwash.
Designing a dual-spout bottle presented our team with unique engineering challenges. For example, the two solutions flow at different rates, but a dose must contain equal amounts of both for proper activation. The bottle had to pour accurately from any angle and prevent accidental mixing of the solutions inside when tilted upright again. Its retail footprint could not exceed that of the original two-bottle package, and the consumer product packaging had to resemble the familiar packaging as closely as possible.
Through extensive prototyping and consumer testing, weengineered a bottle that eliminates all the pain points. Multiple patents are pending on the new bottle, which is now available in stores everywhere.
The redesigned SmartMouth bottle has been recognized for retailpackaging design excellence, receiving accolades from the PAC Packaging Competition, and “Best of Show” at the Annual NACD Packaging Awards.
