My team & I were given the task of making Rit a relevant, top-of-mind brand again. To do this we had to align Rit with its intrinsic value.
ux, research, prototyping, concepting
Rit dye has been around for over 100 years. It is the first stop for novice fabric dyers. The name rings a bell for people who have only done it a couple of times in their lifetime. Store availability and big shelf spaces have naturally resulted in a lot of first-time buyers. Whether you have decided to give a new life to your faded black shirt or to do a tie-dye with your niece, chances are Rit Dye is the first option you would come across. The brand’s intrinsic value is “CreativityWithin Reach” but that has been ignored lately.
Rit Dye has the advantage of being known as the easiest fabric dye to use, and our users need a little help getting over their initial fear.
Make Rit the cake mix of the fabric dye category. We can convince them to get over their fears by showing them that they can do it regardless of their skill level.
The idea behind the concept 'Its time to dye' is to solve 3 core problems users have with Rit: lack of inspiration, intimidation, inconsistency
We do this by using
Unlike other DIY arts and crafts, this category comes with some baggage. Fabric dying appears intimidating, scary, and has unexpected results. People are hesitant to enter the category even when that benefit exists.
To tackle these perceptions, we used Don Norman's three layers of experience design to guide us. We translated his three principles to fit the problems Rit Dye has. They came out to be: Simplicity, Self-Expression & Awareness
We developed a robust tactical plan (web exprience, new product innovation, digital & print campaign, experiential) to help our users overcome the problems they face with fabric dying by putting them into three buckets:
To get the creative juices flowing, we created a random challenge generator asking users to dye things ranging from fanny packs to lamp shades This challenge generator serves as a light push for our users to get started with dyeing.
Our print campaign breaks down the dyeing process into 4 easy steps which relate to the 'ecosystem' of products and services we created. Step 1 goes with the instructions on the new product packaging. Step 2 goes with the dye mixer machine and color catalog. Step 3 goes with the dye kit we created.
Rit products currently share lower shelf spaces with laundry products in big box stores, which makes it hard to differentiate.
Rit liquid dyes come in quite a number of colors, but only a dozen shades are carried by craft stores, and even less by big box stores. We created a dye mixing machine that can mix a fresh bottle of any color out of selection of colors Rit has. This mixer can live in our retail partner stores like Michael’s and Joann’s Fabric.
We created a Rit dye kit to help Rit users further overcome the intimidation factor, as well as the problem of results not looking like inspiration sources.
After users pick color combinations from the catalog, they have the ability to see its effects on different items, such as jackets, blankets, and couches. This lets them know that anything within their reach is dye-able, reinforcing the intrinsic value of the brand in small moments (creativity within reach).
Coupled with the dye challenges, we also wanted to provide users with a color mixing library so they could explore combinations. This fuels their imagination and brings in the element of self-expression.
Along with the dye kit, we redesigned the packaging by adding the element of instructional design to reinforce the simplicity of the process.
We changed the color & texture from polished white to chalk black to differentiate Rit Dye products from laundry products because they share a shelf in big box stores like Walmart.
Every tactic used tries to highlights the brand's intrinsic value, speaks to the right audience, and creates buzz around fabric dying.
Our research showed that the right people for Rit to target are 'Type B creatives'. They content knowing a little bit about everything. To this person, it’s more important to finish th eproject than to make the most creative piece.
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