Hand In Hand Has A Bold New Look To Go With Bold Distribution Ambitions

Hand in Hand is downsizing to upsize.

The socially-conscious soap brand streamlined its assortment and tweaked its look to make a bigger impact as it grows at big retailers and draws younger shoppers. In November, Hand in Hand premiered on QVC after making its Target debut during the 2016 holiday season. It’s stocked by Anthropologie and has other major retailers in its sights as well.

“What had carried our brand wasn’t going to continue to work for us,” says Zofia Wolicki, chief operating officer at Hand in Hand. “We needed something that was bolder, that was going to stand out on the shelf and that really popped out at customers to tell them who we are in a split second.”

Hand in Hand’s updated lotion and sugar scrub tubes feature a bright logo containing two hands and the letter H where they intersect, a wave motif, the percentage of natural ingredients in the formulas, product purposes (i.e., nourish and soothe for the lotion), a spotlight on the brand’s avoidance of palm oil, colorful caps, and the slogan “sustainable suds” to highlight its environmentally-friendly approach to packaging and sourcing. Blue and orange are the predominant hues.

“We want products that are 100% natural, but also that are shelf stable and smell good. We are trying to be transparent about that with our customers,” says Wolicki, noting the brand points out that it’s palm oil-free – it uses sodium rapeseedate as a palm oil substitute – because it anticipates the public to become increasingly concerned with the deforestation and wildlife issues linked to palm oil production.

With the rebrand, Hand in Hand eliminated a cursive logo and the phrase, “Buy A Bar, Give A Bar,” from the front of the packaging. Asked whether consumers care that the brands they buy from are connected to causes, Wolicki responds, “Millennials and gen z’ers care. I believe gen z’ers are going to expect it out of their brands. It’s no longer a special thing.”

Husband-and-wife Bill Glaab and Courtney Apple founded Hand in Hand in 2011. They sought to combine good design with good deeds and decided upon a Toms-style one-for-one model giving one bar of soap to clean water programs for every bar purchased. Starting in 2012, Hand in Hand focused its donations on Haiti and the child advocacy group My Neighbor’s Children. The brand has donated 1 million bars since it was established.

Wolicki credited Anthropologie, which Hand in Hand entered at its outset, with urging the brand to elevate its aeshetics. Early on, it embraced illustrations with fanciful scenes inspired by the ingredients. Deer and fields of lavender are on the lavender bar soap, for example, while a boat and whale are on the sea salt bar soap. The illustrations remain on the bar soap wrappings, although Hand in Hand has injected key elements of the rebrand on them.

As it matured, Hand in Hand’s scent portfolio doubled from three to six varieties, and its product assortment stretched from bar soaps to hand salves, face tonics, liquid soaps, lip balms, candles, bath salts and more. Today, there are four scents – coral, lavender, orange blossom and sea salt – and three products: the aforementioned sugar scrub, body lotion and bar soap. There’s a travel set available, too.

Like the assortment, the price has shrunk. On Hand in Hand’s website, a bar soap costs $6. In Target, it’s $4.99. Zolicki remembers the bar soap price had reached as high as $12. “We always kept the same bar, but, with Target and their numbers, we are able to offer them at the [lower] price,” says Wolicki. “It’s about easy ways for people to have a luxury experience at a non-luxury cost. We want people loving our products, the system and steps.”

Affordability is important to Hand in Hand’s current customer base of largely 24- to 35-year-olds. Prior to its entrance into Target, its customers were primarily women aged 45- to 65-years-old who shopped for the brand at small stores. To get a better understanding of its present customers and their merchandise desires, Hand in Hand is conducting surveys and scouring trend reports.

“We have been very classic with the scrub, lotion and soap. We want to push needle, if that’s something our customers and the retailers want,” says Wolicki. “Before, we were churning out what we thought people wanted and what businesses in our realm were doing. It was a guessing game. Now, we are trying to have data come into it to drive what we are doing next.”

What’s next for Hand in Hand’s distribution is possibly additional distribution partners. Wolicki mentions the brand is aiming for one to two sizable retailers to broaden its distribution roster. “We are at a very interesting growth stage and shift in our business,” she says. “We are really excited about it. There is a lot of exciting stuff on the horizon for us.”