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By Ron Romanik
The Honeywell Consumer Products Group has created a revolutionary automotive product line to capture a new type of automotive accessory customer women. The brand-new Blink line of products is a coordinated line of five moderately priced products to help the 24/7 mom organize her hectic life in the car while transporting the kids to soccer games and other activities.
Partnering with Honeywell was 4sight, a product and package innovation firm based in New York City. 4sight helped Honeywell develop the structure and fuction these unique disposable products for moms to clean up messes, spills, and clutter in the car. Honeywell credits Lindsay, Stone & Briggs in Madison, WI, for the naming of the brand, but HMSDesign in South Norwalk, CT, was responsible for developing the brand positioning, personality, and packaging graphics.
Combining function with a fun look, the compact line of Blink products includes: Smudge Cleaners window fingerprint remover, Trash Tossers litter bags, Tidy Totes clutter collector bags, Mess Lifters stain remover wet wipes, and Spill Grabbers super absorbent dry wipes. These compact products are designed and packaged to be readily accessible and to "live" in the car by fitting in various side pocket areas or exposed compartments not in the trunk or glove compartment.
Designing for the demographic
Studies show that women represent 80% of mass market shoppers, and that most women never go into the automotive department of stores. To help clarify the needs of this market, 4sight used its Cultivate Brand Harvesting™ research approach with women regarding their car cleaning needs, habits, wants, and purchase behavior. As a result, 4sight helped to redefine the demographic category of women to a narrower subset of 24/7 soccer moms. This research revealed new insights that 4sight translated into key product structural platforms and opportunities.
"We designed the products with a sense of style and feminine forms, such as arches, curves and soft lines, to communicate friendly products with personality that are easy to use," says Stuart Leslie, president of 4sight inc. By integrating the structural aspects with HMSDesigns brightly colored graphics, 4sight maintained Blink's playful image.
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