Sleep Category Makeover
What started as a line planning exercise grew into a lead design & development project, that had me initiating a massive global program with a new factory, mentoring design, development, & management teams through a new stage/gate process while we reconfigured an entire sleep category. Between Sleeping Bags, Liners, Mats, & Pillows, there’s too much to cover. So I’ll focus just on sleeping bags.
Learn the line, the goals, the history
Understand the Financials
Define the Problem
Ideate assortment options
Brief the Project
Ideate, Critique, Ideate Again
Prototype & Cost
Test, Test, Test
Let Data Speak
Good line planning starts with understanding the financials.
Few things can tell us what’s resonating better than Units & Dollars sold in, other than NPD’s data on what’s sold through. NPD’s data though is primarily focus on the United States, so for global business it’s imperative to engage international sales teams.
The Bigger Picture
I visual line plans to help frame up the stories that can’t be found in spread sheets. Are we over or under assorted in any particular activity? Does a material technology or attribute warrant its own consumer facing story?
Temp : Gender : Fit
Sleeping Bags are relatively simple products but have “regulated” performance attributes, namely around temperature. Fit is an important component and bodies come in various shapes and sizes. Gender isn’t as important as body type and metabolism, but for Sales & Marketing stories we have to look at how the line assortment considers what’s important and balance that with SKU count.
Introduce your brand
Take a minute to write an introduction that is short, sweet, and to the point. If you sell something, use this space to describe it in detail and tell us why we should make a purchase. Tap into your creativity. You’ve got this.
Make it stand out.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.