Toni & Guy packaging fail
If you’re anything like me, doing your hair is always a last-minute job, done in a massive rush, desperately trying to get out of the door. That was the scene on the weekend. Not only that, I was also looking forward to using my new Toni & Guy heat protection spray. So with my straightening irons steaming hot and ready to roll, I picked up my new spray and tried to do exactly that. Except nothing happened. I tried again. Nothing. Now, when I bought the product in Boots I did notice that the whole range had been quite significantly repackaged, at least since the last time I had bought anything. The old tin aerosol had been replaced by a plastic bottle with a trigger spray.
While I’d clocked this change, it never occurred to me that it would be an issue. How wrong I was. Struggling to get the damn bottle to spray, I consulted the instructions: “spray evenly over damp hair and comb through …or spritz over dry hair.” “Well, I never”, I think “I could have worked that bit out for myself”. The much more significant, “how the hell do I get the damn bottle to spray” issue was simply not addressed. I tried calling the 0800 help line. Of course it was closed. I tried do dismantle the device to see whether I needed to snap off some sort of plastic lock thingie. Needless to say, I got myself into a right mess. After 20 minutes of this faffing around I was about to give up when suddenly, completely by accident, I alighted on a bit of transparent plastic on the rim just below the nozzle. Hey presto, I clicked it and discovered a locking device. Finally I was able to spray, even if I might have given up the will to live as I tried to get there.
Don’t get me wrong. Once you understand how it works, it’s a brilliant mechanism. But an appeal to the designer, please. This is a new mechanism. Can you think of the poor consumer and give us just a teeny, weeny hint as to how your marvellous new system works? Even if there isn’t space on the product itself, what about a little arrowhead on the lock to give us some sort of a clue? After all, we are talking about a small piece of semi-transparent plastic. And try to remember too, that when we’re styling our hair, time is of the essence and we don’t want to be confronted with an Ikea-build of a task simply to access some product. But above all else, put yourself in the shoes of the consumer. PS – and please don’t blame it on my age. Our lovely assistant account executive, 21 year old Sophie has exactly the same problem the first time she used this product too.
maxine bergman
October 17, 2011 @ 4:37 pm
another example of packaging design flaw’s is the black shampoo bottles which are a pump action, the problem with them is, you cant see how much of the product is left and as the container empties the container looses the will to stand up in the shower, totally impractical, I love their products but did not repeat purchase for this reason, change the packaging !!
Steve Taylor
October 17, 2011 @ 9:11 pm
So how does it work then?