The wildly successful spray sunscreen industry has paved the way for brands such as Vaseline and Gold Bond to rework their best-selling products into convenient spray mist forms as a way to give consumers a more efficient method of application, while also attracting a younger demographic.

“The younger consumer has no experience with powder, so we wanted to see how we could take the benefits of the Gold Bond powder and put it into a form that they can relate to. They are interested in convenience and portability, and we wanted to make our product relevant,” said Laurie Hodge, who does brand research and market development for Tatum, Gold Bond’s distributing company.

After 105 years of being synonymous with powder, Gold Bond decided to get with the times, launching Gold Bond No Mess Spray in both classic and powder fresh scents in March 2013 to rave reviews and solid sales, showing that there is potential to turn something old and successful into something new and successful.

“I would say [sales] are exceeding our expectations and we had high expectations. It’s everything we set out to do and then some,” Laurie said, who noted that sales are actually on par with their already established shaker powder.

The transformation from powder to no-mess spray was one that required lots of trial and error, but in the end opened up a new world of possibilities for both Gold Bond and consumers.

“What we’re seeing is that [because of the easy spray application and portability] there are new user occasions for the product. People can throw it in their gym bag and take it to the gym, so I think in that sense it has extended usage occasions and extended new users into the franchise,” Laurie said.

Like Gold Bond, Vaseline has introduced spray versions of their already existing bestsellers, rather than starting with a completely new product. Vaseline is also using a mass media approach to demonstrate for consumers the ease of use and versatility of their Vaseline Spray and Go skincare line.

“The television lets us efficiently reach our user. We have a Facebook page and digital outreach but television has still proven most effective,” said Laurie. “[Seeing the actual spray in use] really contemporizes the product and is really relevant.”