Lypsyl Lip Balm

Creative Agency: Seymourpowell
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: Lypsyl
Location: London, UK
Packaging Contents: Lip balm

Making Lypsyl legendary again: Seymourpowell create new branding and packaging for the heritage lip balm brand

– New brand strategy, brand mark, brand architecture, packaging and copywriting help Lypsyl reclaim its heritage and compete against growing competition in the lip balm category.

Leading design and innovation company Seymourpowell today reveal details of their new work for one of the nation’s favourite lip balm brands, Lypsyl. The comprehensive project saw Seymourpowell redefine Lypsyl’s brand essence, consult on new product flavours and formulations, and create new branding, packaging and copy to help Lypsyl stand out in an increasingly crowded category.

Claire Fisher, Client Director from Seymourpowell commented: “In the past Lypsyl held a wonderful emotional connection with consumers because people remembered their mothers or grandmothers using it and so they used it themselves. However, the category has matured and evolved rapidly in recent years with a soaring number of competitors offering new products, flavours and packaging structures, leaving Lypsyl behind. Our challenge was to make the brand feel relevant again whilst staying true to its unique heritage.”

Seymourpowell set about redefining the Lypsyl brand by delving into its history and discovering what makes it stand apart from competitors in today’s market. Inspired by the brand’s 125 years of history and remarkable stories from its past, such as its place on the first expedition up Mount Everest, Seymourpowell developed the brand essence of ‘Legendary Lypsyl’ and the brand values of ‘caring, consistent and uncomplicated’ to underpin their design work. Their new branding, packaging and copy draws on this to position Lypsyl as the most reliable and effective partner in lip care.

Igor Astrologo, Design Director from Seymourpowell commented: “Our strategy was to balance communicating Lypsyl’s trusted heritage while drawing on contemporary references. For example, we redrew the famous lip-shaped brand mark to make it feel more distinctive, modern and playful, and gave it a bold, contemporary treatment by cropping it off the packaging. The typography we’ve used has ‘retro’ touches to it whilst also feeling very current. We helped Lypsyl further reclaim their heritage by introducing the copy ‘Est. 1891’ and ‘Protecting and Nourishing the Nation’s Lips’ to the packaging.”

Seymourpowell also consulted on the development of new product flavours and formulations in line with recent developments within the category. The new range includes a more adventurous selection of flavours, such as ‘Mint & Fennel’ and ‘Coconut & Almond’, and improved formulations that make the scent of the products feel more natural. Seymourpowell then created colour-ways for all of the new editions to the range, and introduced emotive copy to the packaging to help engage consumers, such as ‘uplifting’, ‘refreshing’ and ‘revitalising’. From the beginning of the process the designs were created to be flexible for use across the entire Lypsyl portfolio, helping to unite their different products, such as lip balm, cold sore products and sun protection, under one core identity. The new branding will be rolled out across the portfolio and across all future product innovations and lines.

Karen Hampshire, Senior Brand Manager at Lypsyl commented: “Lypsyl is a longstanding and treasured British brand and we came to Seymourpowell for assistance with how to best draw on our great history and the values that we stand for. They have done an excellent job in helping us reclaim our distinctive heritage while updating our brand to make it feel contemporary and relevant once again.”