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Sanofi Chattem uses package design to launch Icy Hot Smart Relief

New product uses a wireless battery-powered device to address back pain. Package shape, graphics, and consumer input all play a role in on-shelf strategy.

Sanofi Chattem uses package design to launch Icy Hot Smart Relief
Sanofi Chattem uses package design to launch Icy Hot Smart Relief

Icy Hot Smart Relief for back pain sufferers stands out on store shelves in a thermoformed pack with outer card that holds the reusable, wireless battery-powered device, customizable in 63 different intensity levels.

Icy Hot Smart Relief was introduced in 2014 by Chattanooga, TN-based Chattem, the U.S. consumer healthcare division for Sanofi. In this Q&A article, Nancy Limback, Sanofi Manager, Package Development and Innovation, discusses the package design and development process for the product.

HCP: Is this a new product or is it new packaging for an existing product?

Limback: The Icy Hot Smart Relief product is new product for Chattem. Smart Relief, an extension of trusted brand Icy Hot, delivers portable, powerful pain relief for persistent, chronic aching back muscles—even arthritis—through a small, wireless battery-powered device. The device uses Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) technology. TENS is a clinically proven method routinely used for decades by doctors and physical therapists, to block the body’s pain signals by sending gentle electrical pulses along the nerve to intercept pain signals before they reach the brain. It also stimulates endorphins, the body’s natural pain reliever.

With the product’s entry into a relatively new category, it was imperative that the packaging was designed to stand out to ensure our consumers could easily identify it. This differentiation in packaging was achieved through the shape of the package and its graphics, including vivid colors on a black background, a high-gloss UV finish and foil stamping. Icy Hot Smart Relief began shipping at the end of February 2014, with retail sales critical mass taking effect in the second quarter of 2014.

HCP: What do the products require in regards to packaging structure? What are the concerns regarding water/moisture barrier, shelf life, protection during the supply chain, shelf presence, etc?

Limback: The Icy Hot Smart Relief packaging was developed by a cross-divisional, cross-functional team, including Sanofi Package Development, Chattem Marketing, R&D and Operations, Sanofi Legal and key vendor partners.

Sanofi Package Development led the efforts to develop a detailed Design Input document, which included all of the key deliverables for the packaging at the start of the project. Chattem Marketing and Sales provided background about the Icy Hot consumer. The R&D team led the effort around establishing product environmental protection requirements. Barrier requirements were satisfied through the resealable pouch used for the electrode pads. The package protection requirement throughout the supply chain process remained in tact. Package Development did considerable lab-based testing to ensure the package and product would arrive home with the consumer in an undamaged, unaltered state.

Testing included distribution challenge qualifications, multiple actions of opening and securely reclosing the clamshell, and the Velcro on the sleeve, as well as the security of the tamper-evident seal over different temperature and humidity conditions.

HCP: Is this product manufactured by Sanofi?

Limback: No, this product is outsourced to two countries outside the U.S. The Icy Hot Smart Relief TENS control unit, electrodes, batteries, and literature are all shipped to a contract packager, Witko, Inc. The thermoforms and paperboard components are manufactured by Rohrer Corp. and are also shipped direct to Witko. The packaging for the retail starter kit, the refill kit, and the club pack is done on semi-automatic lines. Packaging into the clubstore displays is done at Chattem in Chattanooga, TN.

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