Mars Factory Safe Pen

Challenge:
Blink Marketing, Inc was approached by a Mars Petcare manufacturing facility with a branded
merchandise project challenge. They were in search of a high-quality pen that could be used on the factory floor. At face value, this seems like a fairly simple task. However, for a pen to be ‘factory-floor approved’, there are several safety components that have to be met and Mars knew with Blink’s industry leading safety standards, they’d be the perfect partner for the job.

Approach:
In early discovery meetings, the Mars quality team shared that with previous suppliers they needed to make concessions on the pen due to the long list of requirements to be considered ‘factory-floorapproved’. The Blink team requested more information on the pen characteristics the client felt were lacking due to the safety requirements. With this list, Blink went to work on product research and realized that the only pens on the market that met all of the safety requirements did, in fact, lack many of the qualities of a preferred everyday pen. The Blink team went back to the client with a recommendation of a custom pen that could be made to their exact specs – ‘factory-floor approved’ checklist, long lasting ink, sturdy barrel, heavier duty feel, and sleek design. After a few weeks of R&D, samples and testing, Blink developed a pen that was given the green light by the Mars quality team and the Mars factory employees were finally excited to use. This pen has since been named the “Mars Factory-Safe Pen”!

Outcome:
The “Mars Factory-Safe Pen” was a huge hit. Word got around and several other factories within the Mars family started ordering the pens in bulk. In addition, because the average life span of a pen is approximately one year (nearly 11 months longer than their previously purchased factory pens), each order included free ink refills to help extend the shelf life. Now, Mars factories have the option of a higher quality factory-floor approved pen that not only has a longer shelf-life, but is also sturdy and “isn’t ugly like the old ones”.