Is It Gum? Is It A Mint?

The American Marketing Association at Ferris competes in a case competition every year, where they take on a product and create an ad campaign. In 2015 they came to the Ferris graphic designers with a problem: they needed a new package design for Ice Breakers Cool Blasts.

With a declining gum market and a heavily saturated mint market, Ice Breakers is looking to create a new market with its product–Cool Blast chews. Positioned between gum and mint products, or a “chewable mint”, Cool Blasts chews has yet to really establish awareness. The Ice Breakers brand is a household name with a large market share, providing Cool Blasts chews with a proven brand to attract consumers. With many other alternatives on the market, however, Cool Blasts chews need to break onto the scene and effectively capture the attention of a young millennial target market.

Out of 15 students this was the selected design. The American Marketing Association was going for a futuristic look to help promote their theme, “Breakthrough in Cool”.

Out of 85 schools in the nation, Ferris’ AMA placed second with the help of this design.

User Experience Map

1 Attraction

User comes across ad on a dating app.

2 Entry

User clips the coupon they receive from the dating app.

3 Engagement

User sees the POP display when they pick up Cool Blasts before their date.

4 Conversion

User interacts with the product, seeing the motivational blurbs as they turn the product.

4 Conversion

User sees the environmental ads when they’re out and about on their date.

Process

Discovery
Planning
Prototyping

Discovery

Archetypes

“When you take out a piece of gum, everyone is automatically your friend.”

Victoria is on the go and at the stage in her life where she’s meeting new people at work and in her personal life. She wants a convenient and inconspicuous product.

“The greatest gift you can give your family and the world is a healthy you.”

Garrett is looking for something to help him kick his smoking habit. He’s concerned about his health and his children’s health. He’d also like a product he can share with his family.

Planning

Marketing Strategy

Positioning Statement

For those wanting to discover a totally new cool, Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews, the only product of its kind, offers consumers an exhilarating and unique breath freshening experience.

Target Markets

Online research proved that the two situations consumers would most likely use Cool Blasts are on interviews or on dates.

Prototyping

Collaboration

Cool Blasts are extremely intense. Since users can tend to eat mints like candy, the function of the tray was redesigned. Research showed that many users didn’t even notice Cool Blasts on the shelf.

Each team of designers was matched with a student from the Product Engineer and Technology program. New package designs were developed with the use of a 3D printer.

The empty tray of the original packaging does not function well as it is prone to spilling. Some users opened it upside-down.

The new design has a hexagon shape that mimics the shape of a snowflake, enforcing the ‘cool’ factor of the product. This unique shape will add to shelf presence and create a distinction — that this product isn’t another gum or mint.