Voltaren Easy Open Cap wins Bronze DBA Award

After winning a German packaging award, UK packaging Award, Drum Award and World Star packaging Award we’re delighted to announce that the Voltaren Easy open cap has been awarded a ‘Bronze’ DBA Award.

Applying pain relief gel is a daily necessity for many Osteoarthritis and joint-pain sufferers, but the simple act of unscrewing a conventional cap, painlessly and without help, is often a real challenge.

Voltaren already had a best-in-class screwcap but the team wanted to do more and felt there was an opportunity to set a new benchmark for inclusive design in the category. Observing how people were opening and closing the screw cap showed where the frustrations were and it soon became evident there were clear areas for improvement. The result is a first to category, patent-pending design for a cap that is intuitive (93% of users agree that the new cap is easier to open & easier to understand), versatile (can open with table and other surfaces) and inclusive (having been independently certified by Arthritis Australia’s Accessible Design Division).

The new design is driving sales - up 5.76%, 35% ahead of market growth - and bringing in new users to the brand - 83% of growth coming from new category buyers. All this has been achieved with a cost-effective design that’s been brought to market at the same cost as the old cap. The easy-open, flip-top cap is helping to safeguard Voltaren as #1 in the category by making life a little better for people who suffer with joint pain.

Jonathan Smithers, CEO, Arthritis Australia said “This new cap considers the real challenges facing those living with osteoarthritis, and we are proud to announce that it is the first therapeutic product that has packaging certified as ‘Easy to Open’, by Arthritis Australia’s Accessible Design Division.

“Brad Athay, Global Design Director for Voltaren said “This was a brilliant team effort between GSK and our 3D design agency. The Voltaren 12hr Easy-to-Open Cap has been created to deliver inclusive design for our consumers, an approach that seeks to ensure our products are accessible to, and usable by, the largest number of people, irrespective of age or ability. Looking at the world from the user’s perspective, and asking the question, ‘how could we make the user’s experience better through great design’, has been our guiding principle.”

For more information see the DBA Award webpage.