Kleenex & Harvard GSD
2026
Revitalizing the champion of facial tissue
Brand Strategy • Aromatherapy
Overview
Innovating Kleenex's product and brand strategy
As Project Lead, I coordinated a 11-person team (pitch narrative, industrial design, UX, 2D/3D rendering) to design Kleenex Aroma, a new product line that helps Kleenex stay competitive after its parent company Kimberly-Clark divested its international sector in 2025. Backing up this new product initiative is a system of brand strategy, digital interface, and visual assets. We also proposed a product launch timeline with a breakdown of actions and north-star goals.
My Contribution
Translated guest critic and faculty feedback into roadmap and actionable tasks after weekly pitches.
Ran regular check-ins throughout the week to track team alignment, surface friction points, and ensure materials handed off smoothly between strategy, design, and production.
UX design: read more here ↗.
Outcome
Our project was awarded Distinction by Harvard GSD Faculty, and received endorsement by Michael Peng, CEO of IDEO, as well as senior design leaders at Nike and Coca-Cola.
Problem
A trusted legacy brand, boxed into one moment
For 100+ years, Kleenex has been the go-to when people are sick. But now, this positioning is oversaturated by competitors, and this category has become financially stagnant. Hence, Kimberly-Clark sold most of its Kleenex businesses outside North America to Brazilian company Suzano for $3.4 billion. We found 3 reasons driving this decision:
Sources: Wall Street Journal (2025); Reuters (2025); Statistica (2024)
Research
Finding the whitespace
Core Issue: Consumers only buy it after they're already sick. This creates steep seasonal demand that only spikes in cold-and-flu season, but collapses the rest of the year.
Opportunity: To make Kleenex relevant all-year-round, break the stigma of sickness that people associate tissue with. Move Kleenex from a hygiene necessity to a companion that owns everyday comfort, not just illness.
Source: Carr, D. for the New York Times (2011).
Competitive Audit
After analyzing competing tissue brands in physical shelves and e-commerce platforms, we found that existing brands cluster primarily around 3 territories: functionality, emotional support, sustainability. None of them own wellness as a broader territory yet.
Sources: Star Market (field research), Amazon, Target, product official websites.
Cultural Tension
Social media audit surfaced 2 opposing currents: hustle culture ("5–9 before 9–5"), versus a growing pull toward rest and softness (#softlife, #cozymaxxing). As stress and anxiety are rising generationally, and wellness rituals are becoming daily habits, this tension is fueling a category growth with high potential.
Aromatherapy as the entry point
This specific category within the wellness market is projected to hit $15.2B in 5 years, with a loyal, repeat-purchase base willing to pay a premium for natural, simple products, making it the most ideal choice for Kleenex to adopt.
But research showed that existing scent products (candles, diffusers, incense) share a common flaw: they're messy, not portable, and anchor people to their homes.
Sources: 40 reels from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Rednote.
Key insights
Kleenex should merge aromatherapy's calming appeal with portability, quality, and ease. This allows the Kleenex to move beyond a static box into something that travels with people's routines.
Kleenex is currently a reactive product tied to the "sickness" brand perception.
Consumers in the hustling culture crave easy, accessible wellness rituals.
Competitive audit reveals Aromatherapy as a viable wellness category to expand into.
Adapt Aromatherapy's calming appeal while enhancing portability, quality, and ease.
Strategy
Bringing wellness rituals to "Glow Getters"
Our target, the Glow Getters, are people constantly in motion: professionals, parents, creatives balancing career, caregiving, and self-growth. They look composed but carry quiet stress, and they're looking for small, grounding rituals throughout the day.
The positioning shift
By introducing a new Aromatherapy-based product line, Kleenex moves from reactive (relief when you're sick) to proactive (a wellness ritual, personal and grounding). We leverage its heritage as permission to expand beyond the tissue aisle into self-care and lifestyle.
A new product line built around 3 states of mind
Each is expressed through its own essential-oil blend, and together they form a cohesive franchise designed to meet Glow Getters across different moments of their day.
Solution
Kleenex Aroma
"In a gentle whiff, the world widens again." Under this suite are 2 aroma-based products assisting consumers at different touchpoints throughout the day.
Product 1 — Aroma Mist Pack
A compact, refillable spray-and-tissue system. Swap scent cartridges to shift rituals throughout the day. Glide, spray, breathe. Mist packs use naturally-derived, phthalate-free fragrance in compostable shellfish-bioplastic casing.
Product 2 — Aroma Pop Pack
A single essential-oil bead that turns any tissue into an instant aromatherapy moment. Grab, pop, breathe. Available as a portable companion or a home station. Pop pods are made from biodegradable materials in pressed-pulp packaging.
Brand Identity & Visual Assets
Go-To-Market
Lessons
Leading means creating equality and safety, not directing
Facilitating smooth collaboration, which contributed to my team winning Distinction, begins with understanding my teammates' perspectives and motivations. My role was not dictating solutions, but activating diverse expertise and emotional security, and jumping in where work is needed.
Key Takeaways
Determine priority by impact
With weekly feedback and limited time, I identified the highest-impact tasks in each category and assign according to teammate availability.
Balance critique with encouragement
I opened each debrief by recognizing what worked well before what needed to change, keeping the team motivated under a fast pitch cycle.
Separate people from problems
When friction among teammates surface, I offered empathetic understanding, then solutions, to focus on the problem, not the individual.
Don't take criticism personally
When given a negative comment from critics, I focus on the substance, not the emotion, because critique contributes to success.
