Leader in natural personal care products chooses R&D Integrated Solutions in Plastics' new consumer packaging design component, Leverage(R)
LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo., Sept. 17, 2008 — Tom's of Maine, a leader in innovative, natural, personal care products for nearly four decades, has selected Leverage(R) Integrated Industrial Design – the consumer packaging design component of R&D, Integrated Solutions in Plastics (http://www.rdleverage.com) – to create its next generation of mouthwash bottles.
The company bested a number of respected competitors for the Tom's of Maine international assignment. Work for the Kennebunk-based firm will include creation of mouthwash packaging for multiple SKUs to be sold both in the U.S. and the UK. "The voluptuous designs we presented held more retail appeal than the more stock-looking packaging our competitors offered," said Corwyn Strout, Creative Director of R&D's Leverage unit. "Our package designs underscore key brand attributes, and will capture consumer attention at the point of sale, as they build our customer's brand."
Tom's of Maine products and packaging – in the natural oral care product category, as well as deodorants and soaps – are designed to be sustainable and recyclable, and use simple, natural ingredients derived from plants and minerals, with no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, colors, flavors or animal ingredients.
"We were impressed with Leverage's range of capabilities and passion for design excellence," said Chris Chappell, Consumer Care Director, Tom's of Maine. "The role of packaging in brand building is more important than ever – this is a team that truly 'gets it.'"
Added Ellen Saksen, Oral Care Product Development Team Leader, Tom's of Maine, "Their ability to convey our brand essence, in a design that will both capture consumer attention and run efficiently at volume, demonstrates the thinking and industrial capability crucial to success in today's retail environment."
In winning the Tom's of Maine assignment, R&D's Strout noted that more than 87 percent of consumers polled preferred its mouthwash package designs over those of the competing design firms.
R&D, Integrated Solutions in Plastics – formally known as R&D Tool & Engineering
The innovative left brain-right brain approach of R&D melds the company's design expertise and world-class engineering capability. "Our approach gets highly creative designers into the process at the front end of the assignment," said David Wescoat, R&D Vice President of Engineering. "Ours is a process unique to the industry, that leads to designs that cut to the heart of the brand essence – and which are manufacturable."
About the Company
Leverage(R) is R&D's full-service consumer packaging component, located in a separate facility within the R&D campus. R&D, Integrated Solutions in Plastics, is recognized as one of the world's leading suppliers of tooling for the food, beverage, home, personal care and healthcare industries. With offices in the Kansas City, Missouri metro area and in the UK, R&D is a full-service plastic product solutions company with a global footprint. Leverage's four-pronged range of services includes upfront research (retail audits, trend and color study, ethnographic research, consumer brainstorming); concept development (story boards, feasibility studies, digital prototyping, graphic design and branding); validation (online design, model making); and implementation (prototype molds, mold sampling and low-volume production).
For further information, visit the company online at http://www.rdleverage.com – NEW WEBSITE
Photo:
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(Editor's Note: To arrange an interview or obtain high-resolution digital photography, contact Robert Schiavone, 816/525-0353, Email.)
Contact:
David Chiddy
UK Contact
44-0-1623-556287
Email
Robert Schiavone
US Contact
816/525-0353
Email
http://www.rdleverage.com
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