Vettech in conjunction with their partner Curvet recently asked Williams&Crosby to look at the branding and packaging of the imitation rodent training aid.
We thought we had been really clever in giving the imitation rat a personality by calling it RITA (rodent imitation training aid).
We could hear the brand in the labs "pass me Rita please", our clients agreed, only for it to get scuppered at the last minute by a 'management' decision and it be renamed CITA (curvet imitation training aid). Personally, I think a brand building opportunity was missed, but we turned our attentions to creating a brand logo that was unique and had personality and here it is.
Once we had the brand we could focus on the packaging design. It needed to be used for storage, the product needed to be visible when on a shelf and it was required to be the main point of sales (POS) for the launch and exhibitions. Given the imitation rodent was anatomical in it's movement and was to be used as an alternative to live lab rats for training, we felt it would be a nice idea to extend the lifelike look and feel of the product.
As a result we created a pet carry box from polypropylene with handle and printed straw in the base and air holes in the sides.
The response from the client and all that have seen it has been fantastic. "it adds real value to the product", "what a fantastic idea, and so practical", "it add to the feeling of the rat being real".
All in all I would say that's a success and a happy client to boot.