growing segment of the industry, full article on

any point during the supply chain.

“At P&G, our goal is to delight the consumer throughout the entire purchasing process. From first seeing the bottles on the shelf through squeezing out the last drop of product from the bottle, it is important that the consumer is delighted with his or her purchase throughout the process,” says Higgins.

“Bottle integrity is of the utmost importance to us because this is the first thing the consumer sees and the last thing they touch. The bottle not only has to look good, it also has to perform throughout its entire life and compromising its integrity was a concern for us. Through measurements and modelling, we were able to find parameters that not only delivered the tactile feel we wanted but also did not compromise our bottle integrity.”

Code on P&G Shampoo and Conditioner Bottles Validating the solution

To ensure the new stripes and circles approach would work for consumers, P&G presented the newly-coded Herbal Essences bio:renew bottles to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in the UK for consumer testing. A follow-up focus group with visually impaired consumers overwhelmingly approved of the new inclusive bottle design.

Following successful consumer feedback, P&G began using Domino’s laser solution to mark Herbal Essences bio:renew shampoo and conditioner bottles at various manufacturing plants in the US and at selected contract packers from January 2019.

The inclusive bottle design was a hit, receiving many positive reviews from the those living with partial or complete sight loss, with active bloggers and spokespersons for the blind community sharing their experiences online.

“I always have difficulty figuring out what I’m grabbing in the shower,” says Holly Bonner, Owner of BlindMotherhood.com. “These bottles are identical, but I don’t have to use a bump dot or a rubber band to differentiate what I’m going to be using… So, I think that this is an amazing idea.”

“While [P&G] are doing this with the visually impaired community in mind, this could also be great for little kids…[and]…people who are losing their vision later on in life… this is going to be very useful for them,” she continues.

“The best part about this whole thing is that a blind woman designed it. A blind woman who has worked for the company for 18 years designed it. So, it is not some sighted person that came up with this idea. This is somebody who is blind, who understands, who gets it. It’s amazing. I think that Herbal Essences has done a great job.” inclusive design across all its US range of Herbal Essences bio:renew shampoos and conditioners.

Driving industry change – P&G’s goal for the beauty industry

On 4th May 2020, Latif took part in a webinar hosted by the people behind BE MY EYES, an innovate web-based application for blind or visually impaired people, which enables users to be connected to volunteers via videocall who can assist with visual tasks. As part of the webinar Latif spoke about the challenges faced by blind and visually impaired people at home, and in the workplace, and how more companies are working to make their products accessible to those with disabilities – including P&G with their new coded bottles.

“I was happy to hear about the new-and-improved, tactile shampoo and conditioner bottles,” writes Blogger and BE MY EYES user Tia Wojciechowski, who sat in on the webinar.

“Almost all shampoos and conditioners are in matchy-matchy twin bottles. I guess people like it better that way, because it looks cuter in their bathrooms. Now there are bottles that are cute and tactile!” she continues.

“Herbal Essences…have added tactile lines on the backs of the bottles… Nothing that should inconvenience hair care product companies into spending a lot of extra money, and make them have to jack up the price.”

The long-term aim of P&G’s project is to encourage more manufacturers to create inclusive packaging designs for beauty and personal care products, which are often used by visually impaired consumers at times when they are unable to rely on glasses or contact lenses. The simple icon approach applied to Herbal Essences bio:renew could provide a global way of allowing differentiation, bringing freedom and confidence to millions of blind and visually impaired consumers in the US and elsewhere.