How Smart Packaging Helps Brands Win in Lowe’s Cleaning Aisle

In this in-store breakdown, SmashBrand’s Christy Lebor walks the specialty cleaning aisle at Lowe’s to answer one big question:

Description

Shopping the specialty cleaner aisle looks straightforward until you actually try to do it. Once you’re standing there, six or seven bays deep, you realize how much work the shelf is asking you to do.

Everything is technically labeled, but very little is truly organized around how people think. Different jobs, different surfaces, different moments in the home all sit side by side. Cleaning, protecting, restoring, fixing. If you’re not already loyal to a brand, you’re forced to slow down and read. And most shoppers don’t want to read in this category. They want reassurance that they’re making a smart choice without having to overthink it.

A lot of packaging in this aisle relies on volume, more copy, more claims, more explanation, but very little hierarchy. When everything is trying to speak at once, nothing actually lands. Describing the surface alone isn’t enough. Shoppers need to understand why this product earns a spot over what they already own. Want to go deeper? See how we helped Weiman win in this same aisle with a data-driven redesign that improved shelf impact and brand preference.

Some brands do a better job of that by being clearer about what they deliver and how they fit into a routine. Strong navigation systems, clear benefit stacks, and visual cues that let you orient quickly all reduce friction. You don’t have to convince people you’re premium if the design already signals confidence and purpose.

This is how we, at SmashBrand, evaluate packaging before any redesign conversation starts. On shelf, in context, through the lens of a real shopper trying to move on with their day. If the package can’t do its job there, no amount of storytelling will save it.

Learn more about our design process.

Video Transcript

00:00:00 It's actually pretty tough to shop. Look
00:00:02 at all that copy. It's not helping me in
00:00:04 any way, but look at that treatment. It
00:00:07 just looks old and dated. There's mine.
00:00:10 Hi, the box.
00:00:14 Hey everybody, it's Shopping with
00:00:15 Christie. Today I'm at Lowe's taking a
00:00:18 look at the specialty cleaner aisle.
00:00:20 Let's take a look today to see what we
00:00:23 can find. Here we are in the specialty
00:00:25 aisle today for Lowe's cleaning. Now,
00:00:29 this entire row is quite long, and you
00:00:32 kind of got to walk all the way down.
00:00:34 Let's see. 1 2 3 4 5 6 seven bays before
00:00:38 you get to this specialty section. You
00:00:41 can see it labeled here. It's actually
00:00:43 pretty tough to shop. One of the reasons
00:00:44 is because there's a lot of different
00:00:47 need states and jobs to be done sort of
00:00:49 all lumped together. It's like, what are
00:00:52 you looking for? Are you looking to
00:00:54 clean up after a pet mess? There's a
00:00:57 product there. Are you looking to clean
00:00:58 leather? There's a product right there
00:01:00 for you. Are you actually looking to
00:01:03 protect your fabric? Is that cleaning?
00:01:05 No, but it's here. I don't know why. Are
00:01:08 you looking to get some goo gone? I'm
00:01:11 always looking to get goo gone in my
00:01:13 house, but that's here too. So, you
00:01:15 know, even kind of cover up scratches on
00:01:17 your wood flooring or furniture. This is
00:01:20 just overall a pretty tough category to
00:01:22 shop. Luckily, there are some wonderful
00:01:24 brands here that have done a fantastic
00:01:26 job in making it just a little easier to
00:01:30 shop. I'm going to talk about that
00:01:32 today, kind of what that is and how
00:01:34 that's matured. I'm also going to point
00:01:36 out some differences between some brands
00:01:38 that have modernized their look and
00:01:41 their feel, you know, still true to who
00:01:43 they are, and then maybe some brands
00:01:45 that it might be time to sort of dust
00:01:48 off that brand identity just to maintain
00:01:51 your premium look and feel and maintain
00:01:54 relevancy to those new homeowners. I do
00:01:57 know that in this category, it really is
00:01:59 a major entry point. that first time you
00:02:02 buy your first place, that's when you
00:02:04 start to take it seriously and you start
00:02:06 to develop those brand loyalties. So, if
00:02:08 you're a brand that's been around since
00:02:10 the boomers or earlier and you haven't
00:02:12 really refreshed your logo, you got to
00:02:15 do it because you may have already lost
00:02:17 the millennials and you don't want to
00:02:19 miss the Gen Z's yet. They're coming and
00:02:22 they're starting to buy houses now.
00:02:24 Okay, let's take a look at first of all
00:02:26 that shopability and navigation. One of
00:02:28 my favorite brands in this set happens
00:02:30 to be a client of ours. Love you, Wyman.
00:02:32 They've got lots of great products in
00:02:35 any format that you want, right? Whether
00:02:38 that's clean your stainless steel, you
00:02:40 want wipes or a trigger bottle, it's
00:02:42 your cook top, they got three formats
00:02:44 here. One of the great things is that
00:02:47 they're helping you shop it a little
00:02:48 better. And actually, we helped them do
00:02:50 this. It was great sort of copy work
00:02:52 that we validated for them is this idea
00:02:54 of well, this does much more than clean.
00:02:57 It's powerful, but specifically you're
00:03:00 actually getting three things when
00:03:01 you're buying lime in here. Clean,
00:03:02 shine, and protect. So, you can kind of
00:03:04 understand why you would want to use a
00:03:06 product like this as opposed to, let's
00:03:08 say, just water or maybe even Windex,
00:03:11 right? This is really specially
00:03:12 formulated. That's why it's a specialty
00:03:14 cleaner. Or if you go down here in their
00:03:16 stone portfolio, here's granite and
00:03:17 stone. Again, 3 in one, 4 in one. tell
00:03:20 me all the things that this formulation
00:03:23 is doing for me and why it's important
00:03:25 for me to buy this versus another
00:03:27 product that I might already have. You
00:03:29 know, compare that with, let's say,
00:03:31 Granite Gold Daily Cleaner. Boy, is that
00:03:34 kind of hard to read. It's like, oh my
00:03:36 god, do I have to read the newspaper
00:03:37 now?
00:03:40 Look at all that copy. It's not helping
00:03:42 me in any way know that this is
00:03:44 definitely better and that I should use
00:03:46 this. The only reason I might use it is
00:03:48 for my granite if I had granite.
00:03:50 Although this is already called granite,
00:03:51 so doesn't help me. And then maybe if
00:03:54 I'm a little bit motivated by this folds
00:03:56 of honor up here, but honestly, most
00:03:58 people aren't. You know, I'm going to
00:03:59 choose Wyman every time over that
00:04:01 product. Let's look at another product
00:04:03 which really kind of helps you shop the
00:04:05 set and make it easier in general. Let's
00:04:08 see. This is a pretty good example here.
00:04:10 Again, we're seeing this sort of copy
00:04:11 trick here. Orange glow. Well, what is
00:04:13 an orange glow? They're telling you it's
00:04:15 a 4 in one monthly polish for hardwood
00:04:18 floors. So they're telling you and here
00:04:19 are the I would assume these are the
00:04:21 four things. Polish, shine, protect,
00:04:23 revitalize. That's probably what it is.
00:04:25 So pretty easy. Not gorgeous graphics,
00:04:27 but hey, effective in this space and
00:04:29 that is helpful. Pledge is a brand
00:04:31 that's really modernized recently and I
00:04:33 do think that they've used color cues
00:04:35 very well here. You know, help me
00:04:37 immediately orient to what I'm looking
00:04:40 for. You can see here, this is an
00:04:41 everyday cleaner, multi-urface. It's got
00:04:43 that blue background. It's also
00:04:45 antibacterial and in the uh flavor, the
00:04:48 fragrance assortment. And then you look
00:04:50 over here. Here's their wood cleaner. I
00:04:52 love how they've used wood grains and
00:04:54 sort of that brown color to help me shop
00:04:57 it better, right? Imagine if that wasn't
00:04:58 there. You wouldn't be able to
00:04:59 immediately recognize what each one of
00:05:01 these things is for. Then over here,
00:05:03 this is their sort of regular product
00:05:04 that's not antibacterial. And I suppose
00:05:06 that's why it's yellow and not blue.
00:05:08 That's at least what I'm guessing their
00:05:10 navigation is. Now, let's move on to
00:05:12 some brands. And again, modernization
00:05:14 versus not. This brand, Murphy's Oil
00:05:17 Soap, what my mom called it. This is a
00:05:19 product that's clearly been around for a
00:05:21 very long, long time. And they're
00:05:22 actually telling you that right here,
00:05:24 since 1910. I'm not exactly sure when
00:05:26 this brand renovated, but it was a bold,
00:05:28 bold move. And I got to say, I love it.
00:05:30 We'll see if the consumer loves it too
00:05:31 as we see uh this brand extend or maybe
00:05:34 get more facings if it's working. But
00:05:36 overall, this look and this feel is
00:05:39 incredibly alluring. It looks like a
00:05:42 classic brand that's modernized for
00:05:44 today. I trust it. You know, this is
00:05:46 this a heavy trust sentiment. And it's
00:05:48 very easy to shop as well because of
00:05:50 this sort of often times at Smash Brand,
00:05:52 we call this a ticket or like a recipe
00:05:55 card type treatment for holding a lot of
00:05:57 content, but then it lets the brand
00:05:59 shine very easy. Same thing over here.
00:06:02 This one's a little tough. This is
00:06:03 clearly not only for the US market, it's
00:06:06 also distributed in the Canadian market,
00:06:07 most likely. That's why you see the
00:06:09 double language here. That's always a
00:06:10 toughy. We have to do that all the time
00:06:12 for clients, but that's what's going on
00:06:13 there with since Dupri in there. And
00:06:15 then here's another product, right? And
00:06:17 you step back. Wood cleaner, squirting
00:06:19 mop, a larger format wood cleaner. I
00:06:21 mean, just gorgeous branding up here. I
00:06:23 have to imagine that's going to do well.
00:06:25 It's like, what would you rather buy?
00:06:27 What do you think is going to work? This
00:06:28 thing, which is 99% naturally derived
00:06:31 wood cleaner, cleans cares, restores.
00:06:34 You see that here, or like this fuddy
00:06:36 duty thing?
00:06:39 Stain Master. No boy, you know. Now,
00:06:42 mind you, Stain Master's couple dollars
00:06:44 less. Let's see, what else do I want to
00:06:46 talk about here? One brand that has not
00:06:48 modernized, at least modernized in a way
00:06:51 I can tell, is Old English. You know,
00:06:54 they're kind of trying to use, maybe
00:06:56 that is a slightly updated logo. I could
00:06:58 imagine perhaps it is. I can't recall in
00:07:01 my mind maybe what a previous version
00:07:03 looks like, but it didn't do it any
00:07:05 favors if this is a modernization. It
00:07:06 still looks very old. I think part of it
00:07:08 is maybe the color choices of the toac,
00:07:11 you know, and you look at their
00:07:12 treatment of wood here. They're trying
00:07:14 to use wood and they're showing you
00:07:15 different gradients of wood here. That's
00:07:18 probably oak flooring. But look at that
00:07:20 treatment. It just looks old and dated,
00:07:22 at least to me, relative to, let's say,
00:07:25 kind of what Pledge did here. But that's
00:07:27 my opinion on this. Now, you contrast
00:07:29 something like this with, I mean, we all
00:07:32 know this brand method. And again, this
00:07:34 is their wood cleaner here, but so
00:07:36 modern, you know, squirt and mop wood
00:07:39 floor. They're not saying too much.
00:07:40 They're depending on their brand equity
00:07:42 to carry them forward and their unique
00:07:44 structure. That's something about
00:07:45 method. Whatever category they go in,
00:07:47 it's always a unique structure. At least
00:07:48 I believe it's one of their brand tenets
00:07:50 cuz that's at least what I've always
00:07:51 seen them come to market with. Okay.
00:07:53 Boy, I could probably talk about every
00:07:55 one of these brands in this set. But
00:07:56 hopefully you are enjoying these sort of
00:07:59 great examples here at Lowe's. And we
00:08:02 are going to continue to work and watch
00:08:05 this category. Everybody needs cleaning
00:08:08 done. And the more we invest in our
00:08:10 homes and the more we're buying sort of
00:08:12 specialty pieces of furniture or more
00:08:15 and more dogs in our house. There's
00:08:17 mine. Hi the BS. Don't we all need
00:08:20 specialty cleaning for these guys right
00:08:22 here? I do. Yes, I do. Okay, that's all
00:08:26 I have to say about that. Have a good
00:08:27 one everybody. Bye.

Christy Lebor Partner & Head of Brand Development, SmashBrand

5 Articles

Christy Lebor is a Partner and Head of Brand Development at SmashBrand, a premier brand development agency championing the FMCG space. With two decades of Fortune 500 CPG experience, Christy harnesses her background from industry titans to infuse brands with a growth trajectory that transitions them from category disruptors to legacy brands.

Her portfolio includes:

Brand management roles at global giants: Kraft, PepsiCo, and Unilever.
Launching pivotal products: Axe Body Wash in the US and the original Dove Campaign for Real Beauty at Unilever.
Steering innovative product lines at PepsiCo: Gatorade chews, protein bars, Mio Fit, and Amino Energy.
Pioneering breakfast innovations at KraftHeinz: Just Crack an Egg
Leading the branded business segment and global innovation at JBS, the world's largest meat company in the world.

Prior to her tenure at SmashBrand, Christy's track record spans various senior management and development roles. Each role has honed her expertise in the intricacies of FMCG, enabling her to cultivate category advantages for brands. From SKU rationalization to directing pivotal innovation stage gates, Christy's acute expertise in FMCG has consistently placed her at the forefront of the industry. Her ability to make incisive, strategically sound decisions has been key in propelling brands to market leadership.

Her philosophy pivots on the principle that timely, relevant data, integrated with brand strategy, is the linchpin for brands aspiring to scale and establish market dominance. At SmashBrand, Christy intricately weaves this philosophy, ensuring brands are not just strategically poised but holistically developed.

Educationally, Christy is equipped with a BBA from The University of Michigan Business School, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, and additional prowess in Private Equity and Venture Capital from Harvard Business School.

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