Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design

50. Jump-Starting a New Package Design: Creating Quality Packaging Can Lead to Getting Carried by More Retailers

As an emergency jump-starting product found on the shelves of automotive stores, standing out in a sea of red and black, checkerboard flags, and lightning bolt–designed packaging proved difficult for StartMeUp. “Its previous packaging had amateurish graphics on a cheap cardboard box that made potential customers wonder if StartMeUp would really work when needed,” said Fritz Klaetke of Visual Dialogue. Visual Dialogue was assigned the task of breathing new life into StartMeUp's packaging. What the design firm didn't expect to do was find out who the product was really aimed at.

Why It Works

You'd probably expect that the new packaging appealed specifically to the average macho man browsing his local auto supply store. Au contraire.

Klaetke said they discovered that although anyone who drives a car is worried about having to deal with a dead battery, it is women who tend to be less likely to want to hook up jumper cables or flag down strangers. The emergency jump starter is one you can keep in your glove compartment, and it charges your battery through the cigarette lighter. “Women like small and simple,” he says.

So the end design leaned toward women, using bright colors, a clean look, “easy as 1-2-3” logo, and a plastic case to convey confidence that StartMeUp will be ...