Developing claims for a new hair care product in two markets

The question

A personal care company was preparing claims for a new hair care product in the US and Brazil, while its name and concept were still taking shape.

Its claims would have to speak to women at very different points with the category, from regular and lapsed users to women who had never tried it. The team had to choose which benefits should lead, and find words for them that each of those women would believe.

Our approach

Before any claim was shown, women described how their hair looks and feels in the days between washes, so every claim could be heard against their own language.

Where the category was established, groups were split by experience with it, so regular users never spoke over women who had lapsed or never tried it.

Women also explored naming and the concept, put the benefit areas in order, and rebuilt the claims within each, separating claims for the product now from claims for future versions.

What the team came away with

A claims development report brought both markets together, benefit area by benefit area, with naming and the concept alongside.

Because the women had rebuilt the wording themselves, the insight team had claims in the language of the people who would buy the product, with an order of benefit areas to start from.

Hearing regular, lapsed and new users separately, the team could also see where a claim would have to work harder for women with no habit in the category yet, and where the same words could serve every woman.