Wild, the world’s first refillable deodorant with plastic free refills, posted profits of over £500,000 within three years of its 2020 launch and has since been acquired by Unilever for a reported £100million.
Wild Cosmetics was set up in 2019 with the goal of bringing a refillable deodorant to market. Appointing Morrama to design the case and refill, they created a product never seen before in the market, scaled fast and by 2022 had grown Wild to a £26million turnover business with 2.5 million customers. With its aluminium case and plastic-free refill, the product completely redefined the deodorant market in the UK, challenging existing norms and elevating deodorant from a low-cost commodity.
From deodorant sales alone, Wild’s annual turnover was £45.8million within three years of launch. But with challengers entering the market, Morrama was tasked with updating the design in 2023 to improve user experience, cost price and retail readiness, to maintain Wild’s lead.
The desirability factor of the case set the brand apart in the market, and changes to the case and refill made the product more compact and easier to use, particularly for those with limited dexterity. Customer complaints dropped straight away, and all parts can now be separated for recycling.
Wild rapidly expanded into over 4,000 UK stores, doubling grocery sales within the first nine months of 2024. The design improvements reduced material usage by 18.4% and a cost reduction of 12.5% was achieved, saving the company over $2million in 18 months.
