A series of novel consumer innovations through the years—including Kleenex facial tissues,
Kotex feminine napkins, and others—have transformed Kimberly-Clark from a
paper mill company to a consumer products powerhouse. Among the company’s recent
successes was Huggies Supreme Natural Fit, named one of the most successful new
product launches in 2007. Nearly three years of research and design were invested in
the creation of the new diaper. After assembling a sample of new mothers from different parts of the
country with different income backgrounds and ethnicities, Kimberly-Clark’s marketers conducted inhome
interviews and placed motion-activated cameras in homes to learn about diaper-changing routines.
Seeing new moms constantly struggle to straighten a squirming baby’s legs when putting on a
diaper led to the insight that the new diaper also needed to be shaped to better follow the curves of
a baby’s body. Because mothers said they wanted their older babies to feel like they weren’t wearing
a diaper, the new diaper also had to be thinner with a closer fit, so new polymers cut the width of the
imbedded absorbent by 16 percent and stretch was added to the back waistband. When research
also revealed that moms often used the cartoon graphics on another diaper to distract the baby
during a diaper change, more active images of Disney-licensed Winnie the Pooh characters were
added. The successful launch of the research-inspired innovation
boosted Kimberly-Clark’s market share by one to two percentage
points and significantly contributed to the company’s $4 billion-plus
sales in diapers that year.1