Personalizing sleep? Supplement range launches in packaging with “clinical feel”

04 Aug 2020 --- Sleep wellness brand Proper has launched a family of four sleep-aid supplements and a personalized coaching app to support US consumers’ slumber. The packaging design was given a “clinical feel” to help visually reinforce to potential buyers that the product inside is researched and proven. Moreover, the products are packaged with reusable and refillable formats in mind. The subscription-based model taps into the growing telehealth market, which has “exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Proper notes.

The bottle is made of frosted glass with a smooth polypropylene lid, while the shipper is constructed of corrugated cardboard for both the box and insert elements. “Although [environmental] sustainability was not at the forefront of the design brief, the bottle is meant to be reused with the delivery of monthly sachets containing subsequent refills for the length of the customer’s subscription,” Saxon Campbell and Robin Kannard, founders of Proper-commissioned design studio Unspoken Agreement, tell PackagingInsights.

“Proper aims to help solve what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified as a public health crisis – insufficient sleep – with a truly more holistic and personalized solution,” adds Nancy Ramamurthi, Founder and CEO of Proper. “Thanks to the increasing popularity of telehealth, sleep coaching can be delivered online.”

The shipping box, information leaflet and product packaging all contribute to the “clinical feel” of Proper.Overall, the design style is a “clean and sophisticated take” on a product that the packaging industry normally “over-designs for,” the Unspoken Agreement founders state. “We went through quite a few rounds of color presentations to nail down the right Pantone colors for the bottle and product differentiators. We also worked through the layout of the middle panel, producing renderings of the front of the bottle to support our concepts, until we reached a final approval from the client.”

Campbell and Kannard also designed the rest of the experience to include a shipper box, booklet and product sachets for monthly refills. Each of these required their own rounds of concepting and design, which the designers worked on for five weeks. 

Innova Market Insights pegged “Packing an e-Punch” as the third most prevalent trend influencing packaging innovation in 2020. Incessant growth in online retail channels is opening up an array of brand enhancement opportunities, particularly through the consumer unboxing experience and so-called “wow factor” effects. 

The third pillar of health
There is a growing understanding that sleep is the “third pillar of health,” as important as one’s diet and physical activity. “A good night’s rest provides immediate benefits like more energy, a better ability to focus and retain information, perform, make better judgments, and simply be in a better mood,” Ramamurthi highlights.

Paired with the personalized sleep coaching app, the sleep supplements subscription aims to positively impact sleep and life quality.Proper’s four formulations, which include botanical ingredients that are validated in numerous clinical studies, are all based on the Core Sleep blend that includes a blend of gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), Venetron Rafuma Leaf Extract, Valerian Root Extract and Sensoril Ashwagandha Root & Leaf Extract. 

• Sleep + Restore: Tart cherry plus standard and sustained-release melatonin shown to decrease sleep latency, increase total sleep time and improve sleep quality. For individuals seeking to reset their natural sleep cycle and who prefer melatonin.

• Sleep + Calm: L-theanine that helps to promote relaxation, cope with everyday stress and support a restful, relaxed state. For individuals seeking better sleep with extra support to relieve everyday stress.

• Sleep + Clarity: Cognigrape which is clinically validated to improve cognitive performance4. For individuals seeking to get better sleep, improve their concentration, and enhance their focus.

• Sleep + Immunity: Zinc, vitamins C, B6 and D, with a clinically-effective dosage of Wellmune that supports a healthy immune response and helps strengthen the immune system. For individuals seeking to boost their immune health.

While Proper designed both the formulations and coaching program to be effective individually, users may achieve their best night’s rest by using them in combination. 

Consumers can select and purchase one of the four sleep formulations on Proper’s website, available a-la-carte for US$39.99 per bottle, or by subscription with a 10 percent discount, free shipping, and, for a limited time, a complimentary 30-minute one-on-one consultation with a Proper sleep coach. 

Subscribers are assessed and receive an individual coaching session and a personal sleep action plan. The introductory sleep coaching session gives consumers access to the sleep expertise they need for sustainable behavioral changes. 

By Anni Schleicher

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