Capturing a New Market in Pain Relief
The Challenge
The Challenge
The Challenge
Sunbeam identified emerging growth in heating pad usage among 25 to 45 year old active adults. The pain relief category representing $2B. Sunbeam needed to modernize a legacy category to remain relevant for everyday, active lifestyles.
Sunbeam identified emerging growth in heating pad usage among 25 to 45 year old active adults. The pain relief category representing $2B. Sunbeam needed to modernize a legacy category to remain relevant for everyday, active lifestyles.
Sunbeam identified emerging growth in heating pad usage among 25 to 45 year old active adults. The pain relief category representing $2B. Sunbeam needed to modernize a legacy category to remain relevant for everyday, active lifestyles.
Category perception was anchored in stationary, at-home heating pads, limiting relevance and growth
Younger, active consumers were adopting heating pads, signaling unmet needs tied to recovery, mobility, and sleep
Pain relief solutions were fragmented across pads, braces, massagers, devices, and topicals, forcing consumer tradeoffs
Emotional drivers like comfort, relaxation, and stress relief were underleveraged in the category
No credible 3 to 5 year roadmap existed across short-, mid-, and long-term pain relief opportunities
No integrated product and technology strategy to guide expansion beyond heat into adjacent pain relief solutions
Category perception was anchored in stationary, at-home heating pads, limiting relevance and growth
Younger, active consumers were adopting heating pads, signaling unmet needs tied to recovery, mobility, and sleep
Pain relief solutions were fragmented across pads, braces, massagers, devices, and topicals, forcing consumer tradeoffs
Emotional drivers like comfort, relaxation, and stress relief were underleveraged in the category
No credible 3 to 5 year roadmap existed across short-, mid-, and long-term pain relief opportunities
No integrated product and technology strategy to guide expansion beyond heat into adjacent pain relief solutions
Category perception was anchored in stationary, at-home heating pads, limiting relevance and growth
Younger, active consumers were adopting heating pads, signaling unmet needs tied to recovery, mobility, and sleep
Pain relief solutions were fragmented across pads, braces, massagers, devices, and topicals, forcing consumer tradeoffs
Emotional drivers like comfort, relaxation, and stress relief were underleveraged in the category
No credible 3 to 5 year roadmap existed across short-, mid-, and long-term pain relief opportunities
No integrated product and technology strategy to guide expansion beyond heat into adjacent pain relief solutions
Results
Cordless heat therapy - ~$10M
Category Expansion - ~$15M
Understanding Pain in Active Lives
Understanding Pain in Active Lives
Understanding Pain in Active Lives
Pain relief is not only about feeling better. For younger, active consumers, it is about staying active, recovering faster, and maintaining momentum in everyday life. As a trusted and authentic brand, Sunbeam had the credibility to play a broader role in wellness and exercise recovery. At the same time, the category was crowded with solutions such as creams, non-prescription medication, braces and supports, reusable cold packs, and TENS devices. These alternatives often introduced trade-offs between effectiveness, convenience, comfort, and discretion, creating an opportunity for Sunbeam to win share by redefining pain relief around simplicity, mobility, and everyday use.
To understand this shift, the team immersed themselves in the lives of younger, more active consumers, conducting in-context interviews to explore how pain showed up before, during, and after daily activities. Synthesizing these observations revealed that pain carried layered functional, emotional, and social consequences. Physical discomfort affected confidence. Recovery routines influenced self-perception. Existing solutions often forced trade-offs between comfort, mobility, and discretion. These insights became the foundation for clear consumer platforms that connected real behaviors to unmet needs and emotional drivers, shaping a more relevant direction for pain relief innovation.
Pain relief is not only about feeling better. For younger, active consumers, it is about staying active, recovering faster, and maintaining momentum in everyday life. As a trusted and authentic brand, Sunbeam had the credibility to play a broader role in wellness and exercise recovery. At the same time, the category was crowded with solutions such as creams, non-prescription medication, braces and supports, reusable cold packs, and TENS devices. These alternatives often introduced trade-offs between effectiveness, convenience, comfort, and discretion, creating an opportunity for Sunbeam to win share by redefining pain relief around simplicity, mobility, and everyday use.
To understand this shift, the team immersed themselves in the lives of younger, more active consumers, conducting in-context interviews to explore how pain showed up before, during, and after daily activities. Synthesizing these observations revealed that pain carried layered functional, emotional, and social consequences. Physical discomfort affected confidence. Recovery routines influenced self-perception. Existing solutions often forced trade-offs between comfort, mobility, and discretion. These insights became the foundation for clear consumer platforms that connected real behaviors to unmet needs and emotional drivers, shaping a more relevant direction for pain relief innovation.
Pain relief is not only about feeling better. For younger, active consumers, it is about staying active, recovering faster, and maintaining momentum in everyday life. As a trusted and authentic brand, Sunbeam had the credibility to play a broader role in wellness and exercise recovery. At the same time, the category was crowded with solutions such as creams, non-prescription medication, braces and supports, reusable cold packs, and TENS devices. These alternatives often introduced trade-offs between effectiveness, convenience, comfort, and discretion, creating an opportunity for Sunbeam to win share by redefining pain relief around simplicity, mobility, and everyday use.
To understand this shift, the team immersed themselves in the lives of younger, more active consumers, conducting in-context interviews to explore how pain showed up before, during, and after daily activities. Synthesizing these observations revealed that pain carried layered functional, emotional, and social consequences. Physical discomfort affected confidence. Recovery routines influenced self-perception. Existing solutions often forced trade-offs between comfort, mobility, and discretion. These insights became the foundation for clear consumer platforms that connected real behaviors to unmet needs and emotional drivers, shaping a more relevant direction for pain relief innovation.
Turning Insight into Scalable Concepts
Turning Insight into Scalable Concepts
Turning Insight into Scalable Concepts
With clear consumer platforms defined, the work shifted from exploration to execution. Ideation was intentionally structured to translate insight into business-ready opportunities, balancing consumer relevance with technical feasibility and portfolio fit. Concepts were developed by integrating consumer needs, emerging technologies, and brand considerations to ensure coverage of both near-term wins and longer-term growth opportunities.
Each team produced turnkey, quantitative-ready concepts that articulated the core insight, the consumer benefit, and a clear expression of how the solution would show up in market. Concepts were evaluated for desirability, feasibility, and scalability. Those demonstrating strong consumer pull and business potential were prioritized and formalized into defined design initiatives, establishing a disciplined pipeline from insight to development.
With clear consumer platforms defined, the work shifted from exploration to execution. Ideation was intentionally structured to translate insight into business-ready opportunities, balancing consumer relevance with technical feasibility and portfolio fit. Concepts were developed by integrating consumer needs, emerging technologies, and brand considerations to ensure coverage of both near-term wins and longer-term growth opportunities.
Each team produced turnkey, quantitative-ready concepts that articulated the core insight, the consumer benefit, and a clear expression of how the solution would show up in market. Concepts were evaluated for desirability, feasibility, and scalability. Those demonstrating strong consumer pull and business potential were prioritized and formalized into defined design initiatives, establishing a disciplined pipeline from insight to development.
With clear consumer platforms defined, the work shifted from exploration to execution. Ideation was intentionally structured to translate insight into business-ready opportunities, balancing consumer relevance with technical feasibility and portfolio fit. Concepts were developed by integrating consumer needs, emerging technologies, and brand considerations to ensure coverage of both near-term wins and longer-term growth opportunities.
Each team produced turnkey, quantitative-ready concepts that articulated the core insight, the consumer benefit, and a clear expression of how the solution would show up in market. Concepts were evaluated for desirability, feasibility, and scalability. Those demonstrating strong consumer pull and business potential were prioritized and formalized into defined design initiatives, establishing a disciplined pipeline from insight to development.
Unlocking New Platforms
Unlocking New Platforms
Unlocking New Platforms
The work translated consumer insight into a scalable pain-relief platform, repositioning Sunbeam from a single-product heating pad brand into a broader wellness and recovery portfolio. By introducing cordless heat and expanding into mobile, wearable use cases, the portfolio increased usage occasions, and enabled growth across joint-specific, wrap-based, hot + cold, and full-coverage formats. This shift established a clear foundation for long-term expansion into adjacent pain relief and wellness categories while reinforcing Sunbeam’s leadership in non-medicated relief for active, everyday lifestyles.
The work translated consumer insight into a scalable pain-relief platform, repositioning Sunbeam from a single-product heating pad brand into a broader wellness and recovery portfolio. By introducing cordless heat and expanding into mobile, wearable use cases, the portfolio increased usage occasions, and enabled growth across joint-specific, wrap-based, hot + cold, and full-coverage formats. This shift established a clear foundation for long-term expansion into adjacent pain relief and wellness categories while reinforcing Sunbeam’s leadership in non-medicated relief for active, everyday lifestyles.
The work translated consumer insight into a scalable pain-relief platform, repositioning Sunbeam from a single-product heating pad brand into a broader wellness and recovery portfolio. By introducing cordless heat and expanding into mobile, wearable use cases, the portfolio increased usage occasions, and enabled growth across joint-specific, wrap-based, hot + cold, and full-coverage formats. This shift established a clear foundation for long-term expansion into adjacent pain relief and wellness categories while reinforcing Sunbeam’s leadership in non-medicated relief for active, everyday lifestyles.
