The first and only company to provide a pre-cut, ready-to-apply tape for therapeutic use, SpiderTech of Toronto, Ontario, Canada now offers its retail products in a sturdy, standard-size aluminum tin surrounded by a paperboard sleeve printed with contemporary graphics that stands out on shelves and protects the product in a range of environments.
SpiderTech’s therapeutic tape was launched into the market five years ago and allows individuals to self-apply pre-cut, adhesive-backed therapeutic strips to affected areas for pain relief and the support of body parts. Products include tape for the back, knee, elbow, ankle, neck, and other areas of the body, packaged in four- or six-pack tins. The company also offers rolls of tape and products for professional use, which were not part of the packaging redesign initiative.
In June 2014, Bill Payne, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for SpiderTech, launched the standardization project, bringing a number of different package styles under one design. “We had different versions of packaging for different market spaces and different continents. It was a mix of old and new,” he says. “It was necessary to revamp the messaging on the packaging and to make the product consistent across all the markets, in terms of its form, format, and the way it feels in the hand.”
The two-piece, silver aluminum tin measures 3.5 in. wide, 7 in. high, and 1 in. deep, and uses a crackle finish on the top and sides for texturing. The SpiderTech name and logo—a representation of a “web” of pre-cut tape—is embossed on the front of the tin; on the back is an embossed recycling symbol. “The reason this format works so well,” explains Payne, “is that the product needs to be transportable from place to place in a way that safeguards its integrity. When I say place to place, I mean it may have to survive in a range of environments, such as a construction site, a sports arena, a factory, an office, or a school. So within those environments, the best way to ensure the product integrity was to have a sturdy package.”
The portable tin is also reusable—a benefit that Payne says many consumers have taken advantage of. “The tin is certainly as indestructible as a package can be,” he says. “That’s one of the things we wanted: a package that’s tough enough to go along with any sort of physical activity, but at the same time be right at home in a first aid drawer.”
Inside the tin is a booklet that provides step-by-step instructions on applying the tape, a product brochure, alcohol prep pads, practice strips, and the pre-cut tape.
Also harmonized during the redesign was the material used for the sleeve surrounding the primary packaging. Covering most of the tin, the sleeve is made from 14-pt cardstock, with a clay-coated finish on the back. Graphics, decorating all four sides of the sleeve, are offset-printed in five colors—CMYK plus a special SpiderTech blue.
According to Payne, package graphics on the front panel were completely redesigned through a partnership with design and communications company Raining Creative. Product usage photography, much of which is new, is the main design element, clearly showing the body part for which the specific tape is designed as well as proper application of the tape. Product information and messaging has also been updated and includes the copy, “100% Drug-Free Relief,” the product descriptor, the number of pre-cuts, and the area for which the tape is designed. The full effect of the design elements is a sleek, contemporary appearance that draws the consumer’s eye to the peg-hung packaging.
As of presstime, SpiderTech had rolled out eight SKUs in the new standardized packaging, with four more in the works, in the U.S. and Canada. The product is sold in food, drug, and mass merchandise retailers, including Walmart, The Vitamin Shoppe, and others in the U.S., and Walmart, Sporting Life, Rexall, and others in Canada. A four-pack of SpiderTech sports tape is priced at $19.95.
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