Development of a high-tech hair diagnostic device for use in TV commercials and point of sale promotion.

Our client asked:

Sagentia Innovation was asked to develop a high-tech diagnostic
device for Dove’s Dry/Damaged product line for use in TV commercials and point of sale promotions.

The project story:

Unilever’s Hair Care business wanted to develop a diagnostic device
to support brand activation, engage consumers and encourage them
to trial Dove products. The aim of this diagnostic tool was to engage
and communicate with consumers around their current level of hair
damage and to recommend and prove the efficacy of specific Dove
hair care products.
We developed this device which uses hair-on-hair friction as a
measure of hair surface damage. In use, a stylist or host operating at an in-store promotion runs a strand of the consumer’s hair
through the device. The device gives an instant reading on the level
of dryness/damage and the host uses the damage score as a cue to
advise on a specific care and product regime.
The device connects to the internet and uploads the consumer’s
damage scores along with various metadata such as hair colour
and user profile. We also enabled this service element to the device
by writing software that communicates with a mobile phone and
uploads the data to a website.

Results: deliverables and outcomes

We worked with Unilever from concept through to full production,
taking responsibility for all aspects from industrial design,
product development & global testing through to transfer to, and
management of, the contract manufacturer.
Unilever’s Dove brand now has an engaging tool for brand
launches, which enables the creation and maintenance of a
personal consumer relationship – while collecting use data for R&D
to build the next range of products.