Aquafresh

A tale of three stripes

Oral care brands tend to fall into familiar patterns – relying on bright, shiny smiles, science-based messaging, and uninspiring, indistinguishable packaging.

AquaFresh, despite being one of the world’s leading oral care brands, was getting lost in this sea of sameness. Its muted colour palette and underwhelming branding meant it wasn’t standing out on shelf.

Our AquaFresh packaging redesign focused on elevating its most distinctive asset, the iconic 3-stripe formula, giving it prominence and creating a bold, recognisable presence that could cut through the clutter.

Cowan’s objective was to create a new packaging design that would be impossible to miss on the shelf. Harnessing the iconic 3-stripe nurdle, we transformed an unnoticed, under-utilised graphic into a striking and memorable brand icon.

The new identity perfectly captures the brand’s confident and approachable personality, significantly increasing its visibility on store shelves – and making it six seconds quicker to find.

In-Depth Case Study

Squeezing the most out of Packaging Design

Most of our brand identity and packaging design work projects of scale have a project name. For Aquafresh, their ‘problem to be solved’ was the category dominance of Colgate and the sea of red which was becoming increasingly hard to cut through. So if you wanted to part the sea of red, you can guess the project name 😉.

The core issue

Aquafresh was a brand in need of revitalisation. The oral care category has long been crowded with predictable codes—polished smiles, clinical promises, and packaging that blurs one brand into the next. Despite its global scale, Aquafresh (US$1bn revenue per annum) was slipping into the background of this crowded landscape. Their subtle packaging design and indistinct branding failed to capture attention or signal difference. Even its most valuable asset—the iconic three-stripe formula—was underplayed, hidden on pack rather than celebrated as the bold icon it could be. The result was a brand with powerful heritage but limited visibility, struggling to stand out in a sea of sameness.

In the UK, the toothpaste aisle isn’t just about minty-fresh claims anymore — brands are brushing up on innovation, transparency, and sustainability. Increased oral health awareness has pushed growth in therapeutic and specialist formulas — think sensitivity, enamel-care, and gum health — rather than purely cosmetic whitening. Consumers are demanding more: natural ingredients, cleaner formulations (less “science-speak”, more ingredient integrity), eco-friendly packaging, and alternative formats like toothpaste tabs. Meanwhile, mouthwash has seen a resurgence, partly thanks to heightened hygiene concerns since COVID-19, with products leaning into medicinal, fresh-breath associations. But cost is biting too: Which? found toothpaste prices swinging wildly throughout the year, sometimes doubling depending on retailer or timing, pushing shoppers to seek value (or switch brands). On the maker side, GSK were investing heavily in R&D via a £130 million oral health innovation centre. All of which means toothpaste and mouthwash brands have to work harder than ever to prove they’re not just another tube on the shelf — they need real credibility, visible difference, and something worth smiling about.

What's happening to oralcare in the UK

Mono-material recyclable tubes
Leading oralcare companies in the UK — including GSK, Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever and P&G — are shifting from multi-laminate, non-recyclable toothpaste tubes to mono-material tubes (made of PE or PP) that can be collected in kerbside recycling. This reduces complexity, cuts waste, and addresses criticism that traditional tubes are “wish-cycled” but mostly unrecyclable according to WRAP.

Tesco’s trial to remove outer cardboard boxes
Tesco has been running trials in roughly 30 stores of toothpaste brands (Colgate, Aquafresh, Sensodyne, Corsadyl etc.) without their branded cardboard packaging. The idea: reduce waste and cost by eliminating unnecessary packaging layers. If successful, it may roll out more broadly.

Eco-friendly toothpaste tablets / zero waste formats
UK consumers are increasingly offered toothpaste tablets, plant-based or vegan pastes, metal or glass containers, refillable options, compostable or home-compost‐friendly packaging. Brands like DENTtabs, Truthpaste, Georganics, Ben & Anna are getting traction among those seeking performance + sustainability. These formats remove or significantly reduce plastic tubes, or replace them altogether.

Commitments to full tube recyclability
GSK Consumer Healthcare (owners of Sensodyne, Parodontax, Aquafresh) committed to making over a billion toothpaste tubes fully recyclable by 2025. The switch involves using new laminate technologies (for example, switching from aluminium barrier laminates to more recyclable alternatives). This helps the brand show capability (they can deliver on sustainability) and improves trust. GSK

Packaging simplification & clarity
With rising consumer awareness around ingredients, waste, and environmental impact, brands are simplifying not just materials but visual communication. Less “flashy science jargon”, clearer labels, more visible sustainability signals. Brands using refill pouches, zero waste formats or packaging that clearly shows “recyclable”, “plastic-free”, “fluroide info” are resonating. Examples include eco-brands like Georganics, Ben & Anna, DENTtabs etc.

Accessible design
Not yet as visible in oral care as in food or homecare, but trend articles suggest “accessible packaging” (easy for people with visual impairment, or reduced dexterity) is emerging as a differentiator. This includes clearer fonts, easier to grip tubes, dispensers, etc. according to Food & Drink Manufacturing UK.

The packaging Design insight

In an increasingly cluttered category full of scientific claims and jargon, consumers are seeking trusted and tested choices that the family will like that provides well-rounded protection.

Aquafresh already owned a unique and powerful equity: the three-stripe nurdle. Yet, by failing to celebrate it, the brand was diminishing the very asset that could deliver instant recognition and preference. Unlocking the potential of this overlooked icon could reframe Aquafresh as approachable, confident, and distinctive—qualities consumers trust when making quick decisions at shelf.

A fresh brand identity

How we harnessed Brand Identity to sharpen Packaging Design
For the new packaging design strategy, the task was clear: amplify what is unique, simplify what is complex, and create a system that prioritises what matters most. The three-stripe nurdle had to move from background detail to hero asset. Information hierarchy needed to be sharpened, ensuring benefits were communicated clearly without overwhelming shoppers. And the overall expression had to capture Aquafresh’s character—balancing efficacy with personality, heritage with modernity.

The Implementation
Cowan’s redesign put the three-stripe nurdle front and centre, transforming it into an unmistakable brand icon. A brighter, more energetic colour system lifted visibility, while simplified layouts clarified key information and guided the shopper’s eye. The result is packaging that reflects Aquafresh’s confident and approachable personality, makes the brand six seconds quicker to find on shelf, and re-establishes it as a leader in a predictable category.

Our process to design iconic packaging design

The new identity was developed utiliseing our trademark process and values-driven approach to design — Simple, Together, Brave.

Simple meant cutting through clutter and focusing on what mattered most. By establishing a clear hierarchy of information and prioritising the use of key brand assets, we elevated the three-stripe nurdle from a background detail into the hero of the pack. This decisive focus ensured that shoppers could identify Aquafresh in seconds.

Together was about deep collaboration with the Aquafresh team. Through data-driven insights, rigorous category analysis, and multiple rounds of design testing, we worked side by side to strike the right balance between protecting brand heritage and meeting evolving consumer needs. This joint process ensured the design was both strategically sound and emotionally resonant.

Brave required making bold choices. We challenged category conventions that had long dictated how oral care should look and resisted the temptation to follow competitors’ reliance on clinical codes. Instead, we leaned into Aquafresh’s unique character, building a design that is impossible to miss on shelf and proudly distinct from the rest of the category.

To step change consumer perceptions of Aquafresh, we needed to ensure the brand identity and packaging design reinforced trust in the brand – especially relevant for large, global brands with history.

Character: Distilling Equity, Authority, and Experience

Equity: Elevate the three-stripe nurdle into the central brand icon, reclaiming it as Aquafresh’s unmistakable signature.
Authority: Use bold, confident colour and form to signal strength and reassurance in a clinical yet approachable category.
Experience: Create a design that reflects the brand’s heritage while expressing freshness and vitality, making Aquafresh feel both established and relevant.

Design Elements Prioritised:

Larger, centralised three-stripe icon to become the hero of the pack
Brighter, more energetic colour palette to lift visibility on shelf
Consistent use of typography and clean structures to reinforce trust

Communication: Prioritising What Matters

Clarity of proposition: Move away from overwhelming the consumer with a checklist of benefits. Instead, simplify the hierarchy of information to highlight the most important cues first.
Hierarchy of information: Organise benefits so that performance and freshness lead, with supportive details secondary.
Cultural resonance: Infuse communication with personality, ensuring Aquafresh feels warm, human, and approachable rather than overly clinical.

Design Elements Prioritised:

Clearer information flow, with lead claims more prominent
Simplified layouts that guide the eye quickly to the right message
Playful use of the nurdle not only as an icon but as a storytelling device

Capability: Earning the Right to Choice

Technical expertise: Present Aquafresh’s formula as proven and effective, while keeping the design confident and modern.
Cultural role: Reinforce Aquafresh as a family brand that can span generations—reliable, familiar, but newly energised.
Positioning and relevance: Re-establish Aquafresh as a top-of-mind brand in oral care aisles by creating packaging that is six seconds quicker to find on shelf.

Design Elements Prioritised:

Stronger shelf impact through bolder iconography and colour
A packaging system scalable across SKUs and formats
Consistency to build trust and preference over time

The Result: Six Seconds Quicker to Find

The redesigned identity reclaims Aquafresh’s rightful place as a standout in oral care. By harnessing its most distinctive asset and reframing how it communicates with shoppers, the brand now cuts through the clutter and delivers immediate impact. The result is a packaging system that is confident, approachable, and unmistakably Aquafresh—making it six seconds quicker to find on shelf and infinitely easier to remember.

The result: Six seconds quicker to find

Planning an Oral Care launch?

Brand identity and packaging design are evolving rapidly in oral care, shaped by shifting consumer expectations and the pressure on brands to stand for more than function. In oral care especially, emerging trends point to a future where sustainability, simplicity, and accessibility will redefine how brands earn trust. From recyclable mono-material tubes to trials eliminating unnecessary outer boxes, from zero-waste toothpaste tablets to clearer, more inclusive design systems, the signals are clear: tomorrow’s winners will be the brands that prove their relevance not only in performance but in values. Understanding key trends can assist in building brand identity and packaging design that will ensure you are able to carve out a relevant niche in this ultra-competitive category.