Lemsip

Building Innovation

A brand at a crossroad

Lemsip, a leading cold and flu brand in the UK sold by Reckitt Benckiser, had it’s two core ranges – Original and Max addressing the major consumer needs, however competition was intensifying and consumer’s needs were fragmenting.
Lemsip also faced several challenges:

• Consumer feedback showed that the existing range was over complex
• The medium term New Product Development (NPD) pipeline was relatively dry
• The main focus and attention in NPD had been given to the new sub brands Max and Fighters while Original had been left behind
• The heart of the Brand ‘Original’ had not substantially changed for years

Innovating into the 21st Century

XPotential was asked to help the brand team to develop breakthrough ideas that would springboard the Original range into the 21st Century.

An innovation process was created that made sure the consumer was kept top of mind and consisted of 5 steps:

1. Ensuring that there was a clear Vision of the future positioning of the Brand through the Challenge
2. Developing a ‘Need States’ video diary of sufferers of cold and flu
3. Running Forensics™ a breakthrough approach for developing deep understanding which resulted in new and outstanding insights for Lemsip
4. Develop ideas and concepts for the future
5. Refining these concepts through a programme of Consumer Clinic focus groups

A positive and long term outlook

At the end of the programme, 10 ideas were further developed into consumer concepts and the top concepts were tested by consumers, resulting in higher than normal acceptance. These key concepts were launched in the UK (Lemsip Day and Night) and the long term pipeline for innovation in the brand was extended to 5 years.