The Kato Collar
The Challenge
Design a multi-touchpoint trade show experience for Guardian Athletics. Using the Kato Collar as our focal point, we designed a strategy to attract, engage, educate and follow up with visitors.
The Approach
After reviewing the dossiers provided by Guardian Athletics, our team performed further research on the trade shows, collar stigma, existing competitors, and the company's online presence. We then set about curating a multi-touchpoint experience that would effectively showcase the Kato Collar's uniqueness.
Background
Guardian Athletics' mission is to protect football players from collision-related injuries through innovative equipment. Their signature product, the Kato Collar, is designed to be protect the head and neck during impact while preserving an athlete's active range-of-motion.
Insights
Guardian Athletics expressed a desire to become a thought-leader in the domain of football safety. Their website offered plenty of content—including some visually strong video content—but there seemed to be little in the way of active conversation between the company and the football community at large. While Guardian aims to obtain 10,000 Facebook followers, they currently clock in at 1,000.
The price also poses a significant challenge. Whereas rival collars can be purchased for less than $100, the Kato Collar is $250.
Selling the Kato Collar requires buy-in from coaches, administrators, athletes, fans and parents alike. We identified the trade show as an ideal venue to further this conversation and educate our audience.
Design Solution
Our design solution focused on creating a welcoming atmosphere where attendees can escape the hubbub of the trade show and learn about the Kato Collar. We were guided by the persona of Jerry the Trainer—a football insider who could act as both an educator and pollinator in his community.
Leaning on a variety of digital and analog supports—an interactive iPad with scannable articles and virtual demos, an articulated dummy with the Kato Collar, and an informative brochure with key takeaways—visitors will have plenty of opportunities to learn about the product.
Equally important, we built in numerous ways to capture visitors contact information so that the conversation can be continued long after the trade show.
Guardian Athletics is in the process of developing a webinar, which will provide an ideal follow-up experience for interested trade show attendees.
When it comes to selling 12,000 Kato Collars, we're ready to play the long game.