When innovation comes from real experience, not range extension
In the world of functional cosmetics, innovation is often confused with product multiplication.
One more formula. One more variation. A need interpreted separately.
The project developed with one of the world's leading companies in water sports clothing took us in the opposite direction from the very beginning.
The brief was clear:
Develop cleansing products designed for people who experience the pool every day. Not as an occasional consumer, but as an athlete.
A body cleanser. A costume cleanser.
Two products. Two functions. Two seemingly distinct categories.
But it was here that the project started to get interesting.
The real starting point: the experience of sportsmen and women
Before talking about formulas, packaging or positioning, we did something simple but often overlooked:
Listen to the real experience of sportsmen and women.
Those who play pool sports consistently experience a number of very real problems:
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chlorine on the skin
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residues on fabrics
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need for immediate washing
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reduced time
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shared environments
In this context, the use of multiple products is not a solution. It is a friction.
Innovation, therefore, could not be “adding.” It had to be simplify.
Rethinking the product, not extending the category
At this point the question changed dramatically.
No longer: “what product can we develop?” But: “how can we solve multiple needs in a single gesture?”
Hence the concept DUAL.
A product designed to be used in the shower, capable of satisfying both the body and the costume In a single user experience. Not a compromise. Not a mediation.
A product designed from the beginning to be dual in function, but unique in identity.
Formula as a design act, not a derivation
One of the most sensitive aspects of the project was the development of the formula.
A DUAL product cannot be a sum of two existing formulas. It must be born as a system.
The formulas were then studied internally, with in-depth work on:
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cleaning efficacy
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Respect for chlorine-stressed skin
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compatibility with technical fabrics
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rapidity of rinsing
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safety of daily use
Each parameter was evaluated not in the abstract, but according to the actual experience in the shower, in a sports context.
The formula, in this case, was not a downstream technical element. It was a experience design decision.
A product that comes from positioning
The end result was not just a new product. It was a product inevitable.
Strong brands do not create products to occupy space. They create products that seem the only sensible response to their positioning.
In this case:
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A brand related to water sports
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an active, demanding, practical audience
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a precise context of use
The DUAL product is not a range extension. It is a direct consequence of brand identity. And that is what makes it credible.
Innovation as friction reduction
This project confirmed a deep conviction for us: the most effective innovation does not add complexity. It takes it away.
It reduces gestures. It reduces time. It reduces decisions.
When a product manages to fit naturally into the user's routine, without requiring adaptation or explanation, it has already met half the challenge.
What the DUAL project teaches
This project demonstrates that real innovation:
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arises from observation
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Is built on experience
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manifests itself in simplicity
No need to invent new categories. It serves Rethink existing ones starting from real use.
When the product solves a concrete problem in an elegant way, the market immediately recognizes it.
Conclusion
The DUAL project is not interesting because it is “new.” It is interesting because it is right.
Right for the user. Right for the brand that signs it. Right for the context in which it is born.
And it is in this deep consistency that innovation stops being a promise and becomes a real function.
Editorial Note - Insight Journal
This article is not about detergency. It talks about method.
Because products that really work are not born from what the market loudly demands, but from what daily experience quietly suggests.
