How Moonbow Used Persona to Redesign Their Packaging Before a Retail Launch

About Moonbow

Moonbow is a skincare brand built on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Founded by twin sisters, Heather and Dr. Felice, the brand brings Eastern healing philosophy into modern skincare — a cleanser, serum, and moisturizer that bridge traditional medicine and contemporary beauty science. As the brand was preparing for its first retail launch, they needed packaging that works for consumers who have never heard of the brand, or even of TCM.

The Challenge

Moonbow had designed packaging that reflected who the brand is: Chinese characters, an Eastern-inspired color palette, messaging rooted in TCM philosophy.

But the team suspected a risk that plagues every close-knit founding team: they had been looking at the same packaging for so long that they could no longer see it the way a new customer would and understand if the messages came through clearly.

Their strong existing community made the problem harder, not easier. Moonbow's Instagram followers and loyal customers already understood TCM. They already knew the product, the founders, and the philosophy. Asking them for feedback would have returned answers that didn't represent the customers the brand needed to win at retail.

"We'd spent so much time with this packaging that we knew every detail by heart. But that's exactly why we realized we needed to step back and understand how a consumer, someone experiencing Moonbow for the very first time, would actually perceive it."

— Heather, Co-Founder, Moonbow

The questions were specific and high-stakes: Should the cap be brown or red? Should the front panel lead with a Western ingredient like hyaluronic acid, or with the TCM story? Were the Chinese characters and brand language legible and compelling to someone encountering Moonbow for the first time? And critically — would the word "medicine" in "Traditional Chinese Medicine" confuse or concern shoppers picking up the product for the first time?

"Consumers only see the front panel first. The challenge is creating enough intrigue for them to pick it up, explore the other panels, and feel confident enough to purchase."

— Heather, Co-Founder, Moonbow

The Solution

Moonbow partnered with Persona to run a qualitative study with consumers intentionally outside their existing orbit — skincare consumers who had no prior exposure to TCM and who had never heard of Dr. Felice or the brand. These consumers would be more like the average consumer who might discover Moonbow on the shelf.

The study was designed to show participants packaging elements one at a time. At each step, participants were asked what they noticed, what they liked or didn't, and whether they'd pick up the product.

"Our core community already understands Traditional Chinese Medicine. But our goal is to reach the people who don't, those who have never heard of TCM or don't know who Dr. Felice is. Traditional Chinese Medicine is still unfamiliar to many consumers, so our challenge has always been: how do we distill 3,000 years of wisdom into something that's simple, approachable, and easy to understand?"

— Heather, Co-Founder, Moonbow

The Results

Eight Packaging Changes. One Clear Direction.

The research delivered concrete answers across every key packaging question — and surfaced insights Moonbow hadn't anticipated.

Moonbow learned which cap design was preferred, and they saw that Western ingredient callouts, like hyaluronic acid, performed better on the front panel than the brand had assumed.

But the most unexpected finding came from the word "medicine" in "Traditional Chinese Medicine": consumers found it confusing to reconcile something described as both "traditional" and "medicine." TCM was newer to this audience than the team had realized.

That single insight prompted a meaningful rethinking of how Moonbow communicates the brand — not by changing what the product is, but by educating more clearly and meeting consumers where they are.

Moonbow ended up making eight distinct changes based on the research: selecting a brown cap over red, moving Western ingredient callouts like hyaluronic acid to the front panel, adding a "Doctor Founded" marker to establish credibility, adding a QR code linking to the brand origin story, removing cursive text participants couldn't read, adding a pronunciation guide and translation for the Chinese character on the packaging, deepening the color palette for shelf presence, and adding educational soundbites about TCM philosophy.

The Asian Aesthetic Was an Asset — Not a Risk

One finding validated the cofounders' brand narrative and ran counter to a common assumption consumer brands make when entering mainstream retail: Moonbow saw they should lean into their heritage, not away from it. When participants encountered the Chinese characters and Eastern design language, they responded positively — the aesthetic added legitimacy, not confusion.

"When people looked at the packaging, they were drawn to its distinctly Chinese design. Rather than feeling unfamiliar, it gave the brand authenticity and reinforced that our roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine are genuine."

— Heather, Co-Founder, Moonbow

More Detail – and More Speed – Than Anything They'd Done Before

Compared to Moonbow's previous research methods — Instagram polls and internal Google Sheets sent to their existing community — Persona delivered a different order of information entirely. And for a small team moving quickly toward a major retail launch, the turnaround time mattered as much as the depth of insight. Persona was the rare solution that offered both.

"Persona is very detailed, and the quick turnaround for me was the biggest value, because we're moving so quickly."

— Heather, Co-Founder, Moonbow

After the study concluded, Heather used Persona's built-in AI tool to pull additional takeaways directly from the data.

"What I found most valuable about the platform was the overall summary and analysis. From there, I was able to use the AI assistant to dig even deeper and surface additional insights and key takeaways. I also think Persona's user experience and the technology behind it are exceptional. I've already recommended it to several people, and the next time I have a research question, Persona will be the first place I go."

— Heather, Co-Founder, Moonbow

Why It Matters

For Moonbow, the impact of this research will show up at retail. The entire study was motivated by a single, durable insight the team knew from experience: a consumer's first interaction with a product begins and ends with what they can see on the shelf. Everything else — the brand story, the science, the philosophy — only gets read if the packaging first earns a second look.

For brands preparing for a retail launch or major channel expansion, this case shows that:

• There's no substitute for external testing — Your team is closest to the brand, making it difficult to see how a new customer will experience it. External testing with a tool like Persona is the best way to see how a new audience will react.
• Qualitative research delivers specific, actionable direction — Moonbow didn't just get impressions and sentiment. They got eight concrete changes they could implement immediately before print
• Cultural identity is a strength on shelf — The research validated leaning into TCM heritage rather than diluting it. What the brand needed wasn't less authenticity, but better education.