Kimberly-Clark approached Goodwin Design Group to assist with their SafeSkin Kids sport wraps, a young, successful brand in a competitive category. Goodwin’s charge was to consider next stage products and brand platform to ensure future success, primarily through product innovation opportunities. We shared consumer insights, demonstrated trends, determined strategies and implemented solutions for SafeSkin to remain a category leader. While KCC planned to focus on product solutions, our recommendation was to also work on the brand packaging in tandem. We worked with kids and moms, as well as nurses and coaches, involving them throughout the design exploration process. Together with consumers, Goodwin Design created a new strategy and brand platform for an entire line of products that moms, parents and coaches truly want. Goodwin designed the products together, tested the range to select those, which were most appealing, and refreshed the brand packaging to speak to kids of all ages, and those who care for them, in a visual language they understand and preferred.

Kimberly Clark returned to Goodwin, the studio that redesigned KCC’s GoodNites brand packaging (2007). KCC aimed to reposition its relatively new SafeSkin Kids sport wraps in the face of opportunities in the category and to insulate the brand against new competitors. The Goodwin team responded with new brand packaging and product innovations, featuring several on-trend, decorative solutions that appeal to girls and boys, while clearly communicating efficacy and benefits to Moms.

“Rather than taking the licensing route as did the competition, we recommended Kimberly Clark develop new strategies derived from consumer insights to meet this challenge and improve KCC’s superior-quality product’s appeal,” said Bill Goodwin, founder, Goodwin Design Group. “The vision was to create compelling, on trend product ‘deco’ to engage active girls and boys ages 7-15, create a point of difference for SafeSkin to lead the category, and appeal to Moms as a quality, trusted brand that protects their kids and aids in healing sport-related injuries.”

From a design strategy standpoint, three objectives were paramount:

(1) Identify trends that resonate with active kids ages 7-15

(2) Develop sport wrap decorations to leverage trend findings

(3) Design new brand packaging

Discover - research

Goodwin’s design team engaged groups of Moms, kids, nurses and coaches to share ideas and create a brand exclusively for them, by them. “We also visited retailers to watch them shop the category, and led discussion groups to better understand the challenges and opportunities for the brand,” added Goodwin.

Branding

The original package did not clearly convey what the product was or its proper usage. “We performed a visual audit to demonstrate category norms, and recommended considering the use of icons, illustrations, or photography. This allowed us to demonstrate multiple uses while maintaining gender-neutrality and communicating whom it was for– with images of various kids of various ages playing a range of sports. The key was to balance an appropriate visual language to appeal to youth’s interests, and to Mom’s needs. We found that balance in our design exploration, co-creating and proving the value of symbols, like the caduceus to communicate efficacy,” said Goodwin. KCC introduced innovation to the category as new designs evolved around product decorations, which updated the sport wrap with reversible, on-trend colors and deco.”

“We researched various categories and hundreds of patterns, which were both gender neutral and gender-specific, We created a series of designs for girls and a series for boys, as well as one with mutual gender appeal,” said Terry Montimore, Goodwin’s vice president of creative, “some comic-bookie, explosions, etc.- For girls there were animal print motifs and bright swirly patterns; for boys we took influences from comic book themes, explosions, lightning bolts, etc., to convey sports-oriented action.. Then we showed the exploratories to kids, got their reactions and synthesized the final patterns.”

A green lightning bolt

“We wanted colors that could be easily repeated along the ‘skin’s’ wrap format and would work with in a three-color printing process, plus the color of the wrap fabric,” said Brian Barto, Goodwin’s director of creative. “There was a lot to learn throughout this process because KCC had never printed on a fabric substrate before. For example, we had to determine how much stretch was acceptable before the designs became unreadable. We kept tweaking the designs and were on call during the prototype printing process, which went through several sample iterations before the final designs were achieved.”

A swirly pink purple wrap appeals to girls, connoting motion when wrapped around a kid’s arm or leg and, similarly, the lightning bolt pattern looks cool in the round. “When it came to the designs themselves we tried to make them gender neutral,” added Montimore. “It really all depends on the color; the pink/purple if printed in blue/green appeals to boys. Recent trends have ushered in colors that were never seen in male and female sports apparel– for example even pink is not only acceptable, but often preferred.”

For added impact on pack, Goodwin added a bright red-encircled caduceus centered below the clear product panel. Alongside the caduceus, the designers placed action sport symbols denoting product usage – for achy knees, wrists, feet and elbows. All in all, Goodwin delivered a leap forward for the brand, with the “New Package – Same GREAT Product!” as noted atop the pack.