The Coleman Company

Steel Belted Cooler

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Coleman was celebrating 100 years of manufacturing some of America’s more iconic products. To commemorate this milestone while leveraging the power of their brand, Colema planned to re-introduce the legendary steel cooler. The industrial design brief read: “We want to bring back the steel belted cooler the way Volkswagen brought back the new Beetle”.

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Finding A Solution

The market is flooded with plastic coolers because they are cost effective and they work. Would the market accept a steel belted cooler at a premium price? To find out, we worked closely with the marketing team to develop numerous feature and material concepts for end user research. The research resulted in the formulation of a strategy based on an honest approach to the use of quality materials, superior thermal insulation and classic design detailing.

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Getting The Details Right

We applied the insight gathered during research to the development of a brand language that was evocative of the original design but with a modern implementation of the signature handle, latch and drain spout details. Research also revealed that cleaning was a major concern so we incorporated a large radius to the inside corners. The larger radii also improved the thermal transfer so the inside stays cooler for a longer period of time.

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Inspired Re-Birth

The Steel Cooler was a tremendous success! Within months of the introduction, Coleman was able to command a premium price and gain placement in new retail outlets from Restoration Hardware to Target.