Expanding the Brand

How we doubled our thermal business IN JUST 18 MONTHS. 

The Assignment

Our AUTOSEAL® West Loop mug had been the leader in the high-end thermal market among mass retailers for seven years. Ignite was facing pressure from low cost competitors bringing high thermal performance with low cost lids. An opportunity was identified to develop a mid-level thermal product to protect our shelf space and expand our brand. As the lead designer for the project, my role would be to bring the functional solutions together with a complimentary form and CMF.

From Observation to Insight to Solution

Observational research and product testing identified areas for improvement in the lid. First, sealing the lid from the top caused pressure buildup, resulting in a leaky lid. Second, opening these lids often required positioning the seal in your face and on your nose when drinking. It was crucial that the design of the interface be immediately understandable to the user. A pull tab architecture was drawn  up to communicate the function. Fast, functional exploration brainstorms were used to explore mechanical solution to achieve this. In our new design, the mechanism seals from underneath the lid and never exposes a wet seal to the nose of the user. The resulting design perfectly highlights the interaction point and create an immediate connection between the user and the function.  

Award Winning Results

The resulting design of the SNAPSEAL® lid platform resonated greatly with both buyers at major retailers and consumers at the point of purchase. Launched at Target, Snap Seal captured their top category revenue position within the first three months on shelf. A year after launch this new lid platform had grown into a family of products holding eight of Target’s top 25 best selling SKUs in the category. Additionally the continued momentum of SnapSeal sales revenue is projected to match that of our best selling West Loop mug.