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BEFORE |
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The story: Every
time Richelle Nassos’ son got an “owiee,” he would back away in fear of the
first aid kit. Frustrated by the lack of kid-friendly options, the mother of
three and her husband, Peter, launched the Me4Kidz brand in late 2005 with its
first product, the Medibag—a first aid kit for kids with colored gloves,
crayon-shaped bandages, smiley-face stickers and more. Following the success of
the Medibag, the husband and wife team introduced the Medibuddy, a smaller,
more portable first aid kit, and the Diaper Bag Buddy, a slim case packed with
baby essentials, including lotion, diaper rash cream and wipes.
The challenge: Despite
being a small company in a large category, Me4Kidz has made a name for itself,
selling in more than 10 countries and U.S. stores like Target and Toys R
Us. However, after five and a half years, Richelle and Peter felt that their
packaging appealed to a limited demographic.
“Being a
mother of three boys, I used all my children for the [images on the] packaging.
So if there was a mom buying something and she had a girl, she may not have
been able to relate to having all boys on the packaging. Or if there was
someone of another race, they might not have been able to relate to having all
white children on the packaging,” says Richelle Nassos.
Me4Kidz turned
to New York-based Flood Creative to update the look and feel of the brand’s
identity and the Medibag, Medibuddy and Diaper Bag Buddy packaging. The new
design aims to retain the warmth and family-feel of the packaging, but at the
same time, appeal to a larger, more diverse audience.
The solution: Designers
wanted to stay away from the traditional A-B-C, 1-2-3 feel of kids’ packaging,
and instead, create a design that was modern and simple, yet still warm and
friendly.
They began
by changing the overall color palette. Research indicated that consumers
purchase products they feel safe and comfortable with. In terms of first aid,
that is typically white packaging. Therefore, gone are the bright red doctor’s
bag and gender-specific (pink, yellow, red and blue) slim cases. Instead, Flood
switched to more, neutral unisex colors, including white for the Medibag and
Diaper Bag Buddy and red, blue, green and orange for the Medibuddy. Additionally,
the logo is now gray, and the handles on the Medibag are red.
They also
eliminated the boy and baby characters from the front of the Medibuddy,
Medibag, and Diaper Bag Buddy, respectively, and replaced them with animal
illustrations. Kids and their parents can now choose from a monkey or dog for
the Medibag; frog, monkey, dog or penguin for the Medibuddy; and giraffe for
the Diaper Bag Buddy.
“The
design now juxtaposes the colder, more clinical nature of the grey logo and
white bag with the innocent, just for kids-feel of the animal illustrations”
says Renee Whitworth, partner at Flood Creative.
Although
they updated their packaging to align with consumer needs, Me4Kidz has not
changed their mission or process. They are committed to employing only members
of the disabled community. The products are also 100 percent manufactured in
the USA,
and, save for the first aid kit
handles, are made of recycled plastic.
“We
wanted to keep their family and their personal mission as part of the package. But
we wanted that to be the reason to believe, and
not the main attraction,” says Whitworth. As a result, they moved the Nassos
family photo from the front to the back of the packaging and added a brief company
bio.
The new
packaging is set to start shipping the first week in August and roll out through
the beginning of October.
Where to Go For More Information…
PACKAGE DESIGN
Flood
Creative, 845.353.3815
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