Spotlight: Hardware

Designers at Liljeqvist & Wargo Implement Strategic Concepts for Packages Aimed at Do-It-Yourselfers

Liljeqvist & Wargo gave the Scott heavy duty shop rag boxes (above) a stronger presentation of brand image, and gave the shop towels a more heroic icon.

The DIY, or Do-It-Yourself, category of merchandising is on a growth curve that shows no signs of slowing down. However, the clutter of a typical hardware or home improvement store rack leaves many DIYers confused, frustrated, and annoyed. In this environment, benefit communication must be visual and happen quickly, and strategies to improve consumer confidence are essential to building brand loyalty.

Liljeqvist & Wargo Inc., a brand design firm in Westport, CT, has helped many brands break out of the clutter and gain a leg up on the competition by improving communication, educating consumers, and generally lending a helping hand to the consumer. One recent project was to redesign the Scott(R) brand of heavy duty shop towels and rags, which are a fairly new category to DIYers.

At the beginning of the redesign, Kimberly-Clark Corporation (owners of the Scott brand) and Liljeqvist & Wargo storyboarded the brand identity. The SKUs had become a mish mash of inconsistent graphic elements where brand placement and treatment, color, positioning, etc. had become inconsistent. The graphic redesign made all of the elements stronger, moved the Scott logo to a more dominant position, and organized the benefit messages much more succinctly. Color was also very important, as the familiar blue, yellow and red of the brand identity were strengthened as well.

Paul Feuerstein, marketing director of the DIY business at Kimberly Clark, explains how the delicate balance of retaining the best elements of the old package and updating them was what Liljeqvist & Wargo achieved so successfully. "They really created a whole new visual platform for the brand and the product identity to reside, while retaining the equity in our 20-plus years of retail presence," says Feuerstein.

Perfect Glue leads the way in simplifying a consumer's buying decision in the confusing glue category.

Lance Liljeqvist, principal at Liljeqvist & Wargo, says that this segment of the market was ripe for a company to stake a claim to an overlooked category. Though the Scott brand was already strong, there were many overseas imitators, including one package that copied the handyman illustration on the box almost exactly.

In truth, the everyman handyman on the box had also become tired and outdated. "We moved him dramatically into the 21st century," says Feuerstein, and retail customers agreed with renewed interest in Scott products. The handyman is decidedly more heroic, says Liljeqvist. "Instead of just being the apartment handyman, we went with something that really signified the strength of the product," he says.

Feuerstein knew that out in the field, or in garages and basements, regular DIYers and professional contractors used the sturdy boxes for a surface to write on, lean on, and even cut on. Feuerstein thought it would be a great idea to make the box as useful as possible, and not work against those natural inclinations of customers. On the new boxes are printed "tools," such as an accurate ruler, a metric conversion chart, and drill bit diameter guide. "We're trying to make the package work as hard as it can," says Feuerstein. Another add-on convenience that has proved successful is a hanger-hook promotion, to make the towel roll as portable and handy as possible.

Project versus product

Varathane packages and POP displays build DIY confidence that they have the right products for the project they're tackling.

One of the ways to engage DIYers in the aisles is to supply information that will help them not only choose the correct product for the job, but also help them complete the job. This strategy is about building confidence in consumers who are worried that they will buy the wrong product or leave the store without everything they need, and it's about actually helping them have a higher success rate with the project when they get home, says Liljeqvist.

Since this can often be a lot of information, the package must often work in concert with POP displays or supporting collateral. For designers, it requires a shift in thinking about the goal of what the package should communicate, says Jacqueline DeLise, director of business development at Liljeqvist & Wargo. "It's really moving the consumers up the continuum from product-based thinking to project-based thinking." says DeLise. "But you can't do it all with one vehicle."

One success story is the Varathane line of wood stains and hardwood floor restoring products. Liljeqvist & Wargo designed packages and retail merchandising that helped consumers buy the right product for the job, have confidence that they were buying the right product, and have confidence that they had all the product and tools necessary to complete the job. A single job could require three separate Varathane products, so easy to follow step-by-step instructions spell everything out.

Other handy ideas are having convenient tear-off sheets on the product or on the POP display. These sheets could contain project completion checklists with all the products and steps needed. Varathane even offered consumers an inexpensive educational video that would explain the differences in the types of jobs and explain that the DIYer might have a few options when tackling a project.

Liljeqvist believes the confident feeling consumers will associate with the product will carry over to repeat sales. When done well, the engagement with first-time buyers also can happen quickly and can entice them to pick up and examine the package further.

The right glue for the right job

Another example of helping consumers buy the right product is the Perfect Glue line of adhesives. A typical pegboard display at any hardware store is a confusing mix of dozens of glues, each having a bunch of recommended applications that don't give the consumer confidence. When the company that makes the respected Liquid Nails brand of adhesives and caulks came to Liljeqvist & Wargo with the idea of introducing a line of glues that would handle 99% of household jobs, the designers developed a comprehensive brand strategy.

Liljeqvist & Wargo handled concept development, naming, brand strategy/positioning, packaging, and structural design. Liljeqvist can quickly summarize the ambitious overall strategy to revolutionize the category: "The idea was to simplify the category and deliver information." The fastest way to simplify is to have as few SKUs as possible, and the fastest way to deliver information is with an easy-to-use chart.

Liquid Nails was able to contain their best technologies in three SKUs, which they claim handle 99% of household jobs. To combat customer confusion and purchase dissatisfaction, a unique surface-to-surface matching system was developed, called Surface Matching(TM). The customer simply locates the materials that need bonding on the x and y axes of a chart to see if their match is a good one for that glue.

To further build consumer confidence, the package even has lists of surfaces broken down into "Works Best On" and "Also Works On" categories. Due in part the effectiveness of the chart and overall design of the packaging, Perfect Glue has been able to make inroads into mass market food and drug retail channels.