Mylanta has always been known for its teal bottle. So when Gigi Leporati was charged with modernizing the brand, she wanted the new bottle to be reminiscent of the legacy package. She didn’t, however, want Mylanta to be known as “yesterday’s brand,” says the marketing director of digestive health for Infirst Healthcare, which had just licensed Mylanta from McNeil Consumer Healthcare. 

“The most challenging part of the process was to balance legacy aspects with new design and innovations so that legacy consumers could recognize it,” she tells PMP News.

Mylanta’s formulation had just been updated, so Leporati and her team set out to develop an ergonomic, aesthetically pleasing package for today’s consumers that would convey relief and convenience. They reached out to Berlin Packaging, which had its internal Studio One Eleven team handle structural design and package engineering. “Berlin had a nice one-stop-shop for us as they designed and produced the bottle for us. We worked closely with them to evaluate consumer trends and shapes, looking holistically at other categories. The medicinal category doesn’t tend to emphasize packaging innovation compared with the food and beverage space,” she says. “So we knew we were in good hands when we saw [Studio One Eleven’s] other work.”

Berlin delivered a bottle that feels “ergonomic in the hand, with finger grips to help with pouring,” says Leporati. “The bottle has a heroic shape. It stands nice and tall and strong and projects Mylanta’s strong brand equity. It’s different from the competition, yet people know it’s a liquid antacid.” Berlin also made sure that the new bottle would work on manufacturing lines, she adds.

The bottle is also the exact same color as the original Mylanta, “or as close as we could get it,” she says, adding that they received the color specifications from McNeil. “The color draws attention at the shelf.”

Infirst Healthcare also launched an accompanying dosage cup. “In the category, there was never a requirement for a dosage cup,” Leporati says. “We felt for consumer convenience we wanted to offer [one].”

Berlin fashioned a snap-on cup with clasps that help keep it in place. “The challenge was to make sure it was tight but not too tight and still look elegant,” she explains. “There are continuous lines from the shoulders of the bottle to the dosage cup.” The cup is debossed with the brand Mylanta and features dose markings in milliliters, which is now becoming an industry standard.

“We really wanted the packaging to communicate soothing, fast relief, so the color and the smooth lines of the package really does deliver on these things,” she adds. “It looks like a product you’d like to pay more for.”  Advertising now running for the new and improved Mylanta features the new bottles prominently, she says.

Infirst Healthcare is also introducing Mylanta Gas Minis. “The oval-shaped anti-gas mini tablets in great-tasting flavors are [provided] in a pocket pack with a flip top that allows users to pour tablets out into their hands,” Leporati says. 

Berlin Packaging developed the graphic design and provided the package, which Leporati says is new to the category. “Most are in blister cards or in a vial. The pocket pack is very portable, has one-handed convenience, and it’s a fits-in-the-palm-of-your-hand type of package.” Packaging is a huge part of the innovation for the mini tablets, she adds. 

“Packaging has huge potential to create a positive and modern image for the brand,” adds Leporati, who previously worked in the beverage industry in the bottled water category. “Packaging is what you interact with physically and emotionally. For a brand on the shelf, having a different design is really important. We needed to convey a more-premium look that demonstrated tremendous equity—packaging is key.”

*******************************************************

Looking for inspiration for your next packaging project? Visit MinnPack September 21-22 in Minneapolis for the latest in packaging materials, equipment, automation, and more!