Kids II

Design wins

  • IDENTITY
  • BRAND LANGUAGE & ARCHITECTURE
  • PACKAGING
Kids II image
The Challenge

The $80+ billion global toy category fuels a frenetically competitive marketplace — where legacy brands compete with niche players, where technology brands dazzle with innovations and where retailers think they know better than Mom what Mom wants for her kids. Kids II, a challenger in every sense of the word, knew their commitment to better design would cut through this market chaos and ultimately win the day. Their challenge, to make sure their heartfelt commitment to design meaningfully engaged Mom’s heart while satisfying her need to inspire learning and creativity.

The Solution

Driving design to the bottom line

To meet this challenge, we started by revitalizing the identities of Kids II’s core brands; Baby Einstein, Bright Starts, Comfort & Harmony and Oball. By elevating the design expression of each brand, we simultaneously rewarded the thoughtful product design found in each offering. This elevated sensibility created a synergistic glow that haloed back to Kids II, reinforcing their commitment to design. This synergy provided ammunition for the Kids II sales force. It enabled them to sell the Kids II franchise versus individual brands. This became a more formidable force in competing with legacy brands. This solution also delivered an experience that Mom engaged in and trusted. Ultimately, we created a kind of push/pull strategy that drove sales.

The Approach

Less is more

Like many in this category, Kids II fell into the trap of wanting to make sure that Mom knew about every feature the toy had to offer...these features after all, create an exceptional experience for the child. Our approach was to focus on the experience rather than on singular features. Together, we agreed that no more than three primary messages/features would appear on the front of pack. Any more than three and all messages would be lost in the fight for attention. By extending the identity from a logo into a full brand language, we created a visual architecture for messaging, communicating age appropriateness and in totality, delivered a proprietary Kids II experience.

In Conclusion

With the revitalized brands on shelf, sales spiked significantly in six short months, serving to reinforce Kids II commitment to design as a competitive organizing principle.

“Duffy sees us for who we truly are and, together with my team, is steering the transformation of our organization to a design driven company. Driven by design, we are giving Mom and her kids the brands they love and deserve. Our truth is already delivering impressive results to the bottom line.”

Ryan Gunnigle
Owner & CEO