Crayola creates 'squeeze' packaging for kids
hand and soap packaging, two years after it was first introduced.
The new packaging aims to give the product more appeal by making it
interactive, reports Simon Pitman.
The product was originally introduced in a cone-shaped package roughly resembling a crayon tip. But late last year, the licensee decided to update the product with a new look that would take fuller advantage of www.schtre.com Crayola's brand equities to increase kid appeal. The result, scheduled to hit store shelves in mid-summer, is a smiley-faced personified crayon that unleashes a stream of foam when its tummy is squeezed.
Created by Berlin Packaging's Studio One Eleven design agency, the package for the new Crayola Squeeze & Squirt Foaming Hand and Body Soap incorporates the crayon character into the bottle structure as well as the full-body shrink sleeve.
The 6-oz. bottle is shaped like a crayon with a cylindrical body and tapered top; tiny arms and feet are built into the mold; and is illustrated by a cartoon-type face on the label. The design elements are based on a little-used character called Tip from Crayola's brand portfolio.
The package is crowned by Emsar's new EcoFoam Squeeze Foamer, visually echoing the head of a crayon as well as producing the product's namesake "squeeze and squirt" capability.
According to Schroeder & Tremayne, the dispenser allows children to produce a foamy soap by squeezing the belly of the 'crayon' rather than pumping the top. This not only contributes to the illusion of a crayon brought to life but also requires one hand rather than two, enabling kids to squeeze the foam directly onto any body part and even use it to draw on themselves for maximum play value.
The product is available in two SKUs, Jazzberry Jam and Atomic Tangerine, named for colors found in Crayola crayon boxes. Each SKU is tinted and scented to match its name, with a clear PET bottle and shrink sleeve permitting the product color to show through.
"Parents are always looking for strategies to make getting clean more enjoyable for their kids, and we were looking for a new way to translate Crayola's brand equities of innovation, interactivity and fun to help ease the process," said Carla Schaeffer, Brand Manager at St. Louis-based Schroeder & Tremayne.
"Studio One Eleven came up with several dozen concepts that included weaving the personality traits of the Tip character into an interactive package. We think it is an excellent solution that is fresh, appealing, and instantly identifiable on the shelf."
In addition to the branding strategy and package design, Studio One Eleven provided graphic, structural and sourcing services. The Studio One Eleven team created the label graphics, including customized fonts; sourced both the bottle and the shrink sleeve from China; worked directly with the supplier in China to produce the mold; recommended and sourced Emsar's EcoFoam Squeeze Foamer; and delivered all components to Schroeder & Tremayne's filler for final production.
"When we got the creative brief and licensee charter for this project, we not only looked at Crayola's brand equities but also gathered every personal care product for children that we could find, documented it, played with it, and applied our understanding of how kids interact with things to come up with our creative concepts," said Scott Jost, Director of Studio One Eleven.
