We will all experience disability at some point in our lives. Today, 60 million adults in the US live with a disability. That’s 1 in 4 people. Yet, our most basic hygiene products cannot be used without help by this large group. A deodorant seems like a trivial, mundane thing. Until you can’t open the cap, press down on the aerosol or apply it. Imagine the importance of deodorant for your confidence. Then imagine you are sweating more, because you are in a wheelchair…. Degree Inclusive is revolutionizing this experience. It will make more products & communications accessible for EVERYONE.?

Doing things the rest of us give little thought to, can take real effort if you are disabled, including the experience of trying to use deodorant. People with disabilities apply deodorant multiple times a day, on multiple parts of their body, but often can’t do that without help. That experience needs to change. We believe that everyone should be able to take care of?their?hygiene needs independently.

Degree Inclusive revolutionizes not only the physical experience of using deodorant, but the entire brand experience, with accessible communications across all platforms telling true and unflinching stories of real people with disabilities. Feeling excluded causes as much pain as being hit – we set out to transform this experience to include everyone with a disability, collaborating and co-creating throughout its development.

And Degree was the perfect partner, with its inclusive brand purpose of inspiring confidence in everyone to move more.

Degree Inclusive is the world’s first inclusive deodorant for people who are blind or have limited sight and for people with upper limb mobility difficulties – and for any of us who experience a decline in vision or mobility as we get older.

We have designed a deodorant that is far easier to handle, identify, open, close and apply. It can be opened and used even without hands by using your mouth or feet. And most importantly, it makes personal care personal again – it can be used without help.

Unlike most communications, all our content is totally accessible via closed captioning and audio descriptions.??So the entire experience makes the disabled community feel included.

We designed a process that was inclusive from the very start. We ideated, co-created and launched this design together with the disabled community. Our team was comprised of designers, engineers, occupational therapists from NYU, and members of the disabled community.

To optimize the design and product formulation, Degree created a beta program in the US to engage people with disabilities to trial the design and give their feedback on its concept, product features, and messaging, helping to improve all elements of the product and marketing mix for the full consumer launch.

It was also important in communications to feature real people with disabilities, not just elite athletes or Paralympians, and tell real stories about their passions and challenges. We engaged the disabled community through social media and influencers with disabilities, to create a movement that ended up on Good Morning America.

Degree Inclusive is easier to handle, identify, open, close and apply, thanks to

-MAGNETIC CAP for easier opening and closing for users with limited muscle strength and allowing for auditory confirmation for visually impaired users.

-LARGER ROLLERBALL to cover more surface area in one swipe

-HOOK design for easier handling (the hook can be hung for opening with one hand).

-EMBOSSED LOGO for the visually impaired.

-Bottom GRIP that requires limited to no finger movement.

-REFILLABLE design to reduce plastic consumption.

The beta product launch was supported by 2 hero films telling the story of Nick, a barber with no hands who is also a boxer and Maria, who is blind yet skates beautifully. Their stories, the story of the product and its co-collaborators, were told on social media and amplified by the disabled community and some of the most high-profile TV and press in the US.

Most important is the feedback from the disabled community themselves, who responded in their thousands with messages of positivity:

“OMG! Every single day that I put on deodorant I think about how hard it is to get off the cap and how they could make it so much easier!”??

“I love the idea. My 13 year old daughter is completely blind and can’t get the top of deodorant off by herself.? This is exciting news… it’s the simple news.? My job as a mom is to get her as self sufficient as possible”

“Loving that such a big brand has decided to respond to the needs of many more of us. Hoping that many others follow”.

The launch achieved 2 billion?earned impressions?in?the first?12?days,?hitting major coverage from Good Morning America,?Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Fast Company, ELLE, Allure, Glamour, Daily Mail and The Independent.?