As part of Procter & Gamble’s larger sustainability initiatives, on Wednesday Olay announced that it will soon begin offering sustainable packaging as part of a three-month pilot program. Beginning in October 2019 and running through the end of the year, consumers will be able to purchase a refillable Olay Regenerist Whip package that contains one full jar of Olay Regenerist Whip and one refill pod of moisturizer that can be placed inside the jar once it’s emptied and recycled when finished. The package will be sold and shipped in a container made of 100 percent recycled paper and will not contain an outer carton in order to reduce the use of paperboard. The goal, the company says, is to reduce the amount of plastic used in the beauty category. Here, Beauty News spoke with Anitra Marsh, Associate Director of Brand Communications, Global Skin and Personal Care Brands, P&G, to learn more about the initiative, goals and driving awareness.

Beauty News: What inspired P&G to launch this program?
Anitra Marsh: This project has been a year in the making and the strategy evolved from the top down. The idea of a refillable jar of Olay Whips originally came from Chris Heiert, Olay’s North American and Global VP, who asked, “Could we even do this?” Then the R&D and Package Design teams worked to pull together a prototype and we realized it was very possible.

BN: Why start with this specific Olay product?
AM: We chose to launch this pilot program with the Olay Regenerist Whip because the product was actually designed with women who are in their late 20s to early 30s in mind and we know the millennial consumer is especially concerned about the environment and the impact of the products they use. It was the number-one best-selling new skin care launch in the U.S. in 2018, so we thought this product was perfect for the program. This program allowed us to unite personal passions of the team: creating great products for our consumers and helping the world at the same time.

BN: What kind of challenges was the brand faced with when making this switch?
AM: Anytime you develop new packaging, you have to make sure that your product’s formula is also compatible with the new material used. In order to create the refill pod, Olay conducted numerous compatibility tests with the packaging and formula to make sure it could stand up in multiple environments.

We also had to keep in mind the consumer experience using this new packaging. In the beauty industry, beautiful packaging is important, so the experiment to get consumers to reuse their package is no easy feat. Would the packaging be intuitive enough that consumers are able to understand how to use it upon opening the package? Is it completely mess-free? We really wanted to make sure the experience was delightful and easy-to-use for the consumer.

BN: How are consumers being made aware of the program?
AM: The refill pods will be sold online including Olay.com in both the U.S. and the U.K. so that we can learn quickly and also solicit feedback from our customers much faster. Because the pilot is online, we will use digital-based marketing tools to drive awareness of the refills.

BN: What kind of things will be evaluated to determine if the pilot is successful?
AM: We will be engaging with consumers to understand if they like the package and if the design is intuitive and easy-to-use. Because this is a first in the mass skincare category, it’s important to learn these things before we expand. Sales are also a good indicator of whether consumers are attracted to the idea of refills in skincare, but learning is our number-one focus. Because Olay is the number 1,2 or 3 brand in many countries around the world, we are constantly thinking about how to go about manufacturing and producing something that can create a larger impact. We don’t take that responsibility lightly.