New Glue Pen Brand Targets Women Specifically

The brand new Simple-fix Glue Pens are easy-to-use, squeezable glue applicators designed for quick repairs around the house. The owner of the brand, Poxy Plus Inc., has long sold an extensive line of glues and epoxies under the Power Poxy® brand. For the first time, however, they decided to package and market this new product directly to female consumers.

The new Simple-fix brand of glue is overtly targeted to women with soft design elements, a woman on the package, and clear benefit statements.

Power Poxy called on Directions Inc. in Neenah, WI, to take on the challenge of designing two packages that would appeal to women on several levels, and convey both the strength of the product and its ease of use. The squeezable pen itself is, in fact, easy to use, but the packaging in the category typically has male-oriented designs and communications. Even Power Poxy's own line tended to be overtly scientific and cold, with a logo that alluded to a complex molecule.

"Simple-fix glue pens offered a revolutionary adhesive formula in a delivery mechanism that was equally revolutionary," says Scott Mueller, creative director for packaging at Directions. "We needed to communicate that functionality with the package design and product branding."

The Simple-fix Glue Pens are targeted to women as an impulse purchase in the general merchandise and seasonal categories. The name Simple-fix, developed by Power Poxy, summarizes the main message, and it is reinforced with a tagline: "Simple like a pen, strong like steel." One package shows a woman using the product in typical fashion outdoors; the other indoors with a child. The images were shot at the Studio 44 photography studios in De Pere, WI, with the same woman model in each picture.

Mueller was excited to work on this project because it was a product concept he could get behind. Both formulas are water-based, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly for use all around the home. "New product positioning can be very risky," Mueller notes. "Our challenge was to make the packaging as functional as the product itself by demonstrating it in use and providing detailed application information women would find helpful."

The blisterpack card was designed as a bifold and color-coded with soft hues to differentiate the two products. The earth-and-sky greens and blues of the Outdoor Glue Pen came first, and the orange of the Indoor Glue Pen was chosen to complement the deep blue brand color.