I was in Macy’s several months back and the “Ice-Watch” display and packaging made it impossible to walk by without checking them out. This is exactly what great merchandising should do. I had never heard about Ice-Watch before this day.
The Importance of Color and Merchandising
At first it was the color overload that stood out from the conservative jewelry counters. Then I began to look at the form factor which looked like LEGO cubed jewel cases. It was a fun and playful way to grab customers attention. Then I looked at the watches which were fairly modern and familiar looking. It could have been one of the hundreds of other analog watches in the glass case but the difference was that it was a ridiculously bright color.
Packaging Helps Capture Buyers Attention
Having to design packaging form factors in the past, I’m always interested in seeing how designers and engineers put things together. There’s considerations of retail impact, merchandising, packaging form factor, pegged or stacked, etc. Well, these definitely had the visual impact AND they stacked like LEGOs, too. You ok with that, LEGO?!
It is a great product too. Like a party on your wrist!
Reminiscent of the Swatch watch craze of the 1980’s, Ice Watch has an endless supply of collections to compliment any-sized wardrobe. “The brand’s unique design comes in several models and colors, resulting in more than 500 different combinations.”
They were created by the Geneva Watch Group in 2007 but just released to the United States in 2013. To give you some perspective of what this juggernaut has accomplished, according to PRNewswire.com, “Internationally, the Ice-Watch brand dominates the watch category selling over 4.2 million watches in nearly 10,000 points of sale in over 100 countries in 2011.”
And like I said before, there are so many collections to accommodate your unique style that it has something for everyone. There is one notable collection worth mentioning for all those super-geeky graphic designers out there that have purchased the Pantone wallpaper, chairs, coasters, etc. Yes! there are several choices to accessorize with your favorite PMS chips.
Ice-Watches retail for about $100 and up at Macy’s. Checkout their website for the full spectrum of color and designs at ice-watch.com.
This BLOG was written by Dean Kojima, a former designer at JDA, Inc.
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