Project: VUSE Product Design
Client: R.J. Reynolds
Disciplines: Co-creation Workshops | Product Design & Engineering
DESIGNING the future
6 years ago, R.J. Reynolds embarked on a mission - to truly transform tobacco, forever. To give adult tobacco consumers a credible alternative to traditional cigarettes by creating a product, designed completely from the ground up, that is more suited to modern life.
“As familiar as necessary, as different as possible”
This insight drove the creation and development of the VUSE product, from how it looks and feels, to the innovative technologies at the heart of its functionality.
Co-creation workshops across the US, allowed engagement with tobacco and vapor consumers alike, learning their smoking behaviours and rituals through direct questioning, observation and ethnographic techniques. Only this level of immersion could enable us to achieve the perfect balance of format familiarity and product point of difference. The right weight, how it feels in hand, the visual characteristics of two distinct parts, all coming together to create one cohesive product.
We always intended to make use of proprietary technology - a key differentiating factor that competitors didn't have the knowledge or investment to achieve. From its SmartLight to QuickConnect, it enables the brand to disassociate itself from traditional cigarettes in every single way possible.
This level of input, working collaboratively with R&D and engineers, was instrumental in helping R.J. Reynolds transition from their agricultural roots into a transformative technology business, successfully launching a premium, yet everyday product that redefined the vapor category and rapidly established market and brand leadership.
