It was a novel idea in men's novelty gifts. We targeted specific consumer groups through brand stories—the result was an unexpected and unprecedented growth in the business. Retailers were excited by the new found fun that the category had been missing…and so were their customers. From vintage 50's to tailgating to the northwoods, these packaging stories sparked an emotional connection with consumers and changed the way retail perceived the importance of this category. Over the last several years, the Wembley, Wemco, and Reward brands have continued to expand Randa's market share of the holiday gift business and has opened up gift opportunities for key summer holidays as well as the women's gift business.
From small leather goods to neckwear, the fashion side of men's gifting is all about finding new and compelling ways to present style. Whether it's a great wedding gift set under Countess Mara or a nod to the art of cigar boxes for Tommy Bahama, the packaging not only worked to update these classic products, but also made them more giftable. Current trends around vintage and novelty in men's fashion also allowed us to create innovative packaging for a category that's usually not known for fun. We were able to spark a re-birth of Wembley, a popular neckwear brand in the 1920's-1960's, by using packaging constructions and heritage graphics from the past to create a unique and fun new look that really stands out at retail.
Trade shows, music festivals, and a shot at the Olympics. You'll find all of that and more in this selection of some of my favorite promotional projects. I always enjoy designing promotional materials because it's a great opportunity to not only come up with compelling visuals, but also write copy that really speaks to the occasion. Music-related events always offer an opportunity to give a nod to classic visual references from the past. However, the most memorable promotion was a project I directed when Chicago was bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympics. I was approached to create concepts around a brand called "Da Games"…it was a uniquely Chicago brand for what would have been a uniquely Chicago Olympic Games.
Developed over the years for different companies, these logos speak to a philosophy of keeping it simple and direct. This diverse collection has a common thread in that they each provide a feeling or point-of-reference to help the consumer easily understand the company, brand, or product. Colors are always important, but these logos don't depend on them.
High Sierra is positioned as an affordable alternative to many of the more well-known outdoor brands. The brand has grown over the years by offering more features and better styling at a good value. Developing a unique lifestyle look and maximizing feature and benefit callouts has been the primary focus of the collateral designed for the brand. Whether it was a product tag or catalog, the goal was to maintain this distinctive High Sierra formula to continue the brands growing appeal. Our design team also played an important role in revolutionizing the luggage industry by introducing outdoor-inspired luggage which would eventually be known as Adventure Travel. Once again lifestyle and unique features would play a key role in growing this new category as well as the brand itself.
Wembley Casino & Lounge is a classic example of a great idea translating on all levels from presentation to sell-in to sell-through. The concept was to build a line of gifts around a 1960's Las Vegas casino theme. Through the use of appropriate graphic elements, custom illustrated characters, and great copy, Wembley Casino & Lounge took shape and went on to help Randa knock down doors in the men's gift business. Our biggest customer, Kohl's, was so excited about the idea that they centered their entire gift shop around the theme. Incredibly, we even designed a bar that acted as the focal point and was sold as one of the Wembley gifts.
Levi's, Dickies, Columbia and Realtree provide an opportunity to work with iconic casual lifestyle brands that come with great heritage branding. Part of our effort to grow the business Is to explore product ideas with the licensors and pitch new concepts that will allow us to expand the cross-category product offerings. A great example of this is the work done on Dickies Industrial Strength—a sub-brand that was based on products featuring reinforced construction. The packaging boasts a bold punch of color combined with identifiable construction site graphics. The result was an eye-catching look that connected with consumers and had undeniable results at retail. The Industrial Strength concept went on to expanded across several product categories.
From innovative product displays to complete shop design, my ability to expand categories through point-of-purchase has enabled our brands and products to find new white space at retail. As brick and mortar business has slowed over the last few years, retail is looking more and more for fresh ideas that will bring traffic back to the stores. Ideas around cross-category fixtures, theme-inspired shops, or a men's dress reinvent, are just a few of the opportunities I've had to reinvigorate retail by improving the consumer shopping experience. Additionally, our process of rendering the retail buyer's department or fixture, acted as a selling tool for our sales team to show big picture ideas around our products.
Men's slippers and flip flops present uniquely different opportunities. Slippers are primarily purchased as gifts during the holidays, while flip flops are mostly a self-purchase. With slippers being very dependent on the packaging to influence the purchase decision, it was easy to see that success and market share would come by providing more features and benefits than the competition. Beyond traditional flip fops and slippers, there was opportunity around combo products that provide extra value or make a gift seem just a little more special. Unique marketing around these products helped create an emotion that both retailers and consumers really gravitated towards. Many retailers used these as a key product in their seasonal statements.
