Beech Lane
RV Product Brand
While innovation isn’t always glamorous, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for creativity, ingenuity, and style in every product design we touch. ETN Holdings came to SPARK in late 2019 with the intent of fleshing out their existing RV and camper accessory brand, Beech Lane. With a handful of products already on the market, ETN had decided to revamp their top sellers and also introduce a series of inventive new offerings to bolster brand recognition within a crowded market space.
The result has been an explosion of successful new Beech Lane products which are beginning to make waves on the Amazon marketplace. And even though toilet valves and sewer hose supports may not be the most romantic subject matter, SPARK has striven to add user-centric innovations across the board in order to establish Beech Lane products as market-leading options that are not only more functional, but also more durable, more attractive, less expensive, and easier to install and use.
“Game changing…”
“Made with quality in mind…”
”I love this thing…”
“I am new to trailer travel and these are sooo easy to use…”
“These things are absolutely amazing…”
”Gotta have one if you have an RV…”
”Works very well, like all the other Beech Lane products…”
— Customer Reviews
Building A Brand
From the start ETN had a vision for a full line of products under the Beech Lane banner, but they already knew their market and wanted to put product into customer hands quickly rather than diving deep into soul-searching branding exercises. Instead, working from a master brand sheet which described the driving traits of Beech Lane, SPARK began to develop an evolving visual brand language through successive product releases.
Each design was crafted to exude the core qualities of the brand, such as durability, reliability, and intuitive use, while also sharing similar aesthetic cues so the family of products would appear to belong together despite varying wildly in size, form, and function. Over time the brand will continue to develop and become more recognizable as customers learn that the Beech Lane name means originality and quality.
““This thing is great and was super easy to install. I like that there is no switch that needs to be turned on before use. This means you don’t have to get out of your truck before setting up your RV. Just open the app before you back in to your camping spot to get an idea of side to side level and whammy… Super easy and super accurate. I will never go back to the old analog level method. Camping is supposed to be fun and this makes life a lot easier when setting up.”
”
User-Driven Innovations
Since Beech Lane is a customer-focused brand, much of SPARK’s development efforts centered around the end user. Leveraging online reviews, trusted ETN customer partners, and local camper owners and businesses, SPARK explored blue-sky opportunities and heavily tested product concepts alongside actual camper owners to gather feedback throughout the development process.
Features were integrated into each design that would speak directly to real-world camper users, enabling Beech Lane to outperform—and stand out from—the competition, while also creating opportunities for ETN to secure intellectual property.
Beech Lane Product Gallery
Digital Leveler
Beech Lane’s wireless leveling system is quickly becoming a slam dunk product on Amazon with near perfect reviews across the board. ETN’s challenge to SPARK was to develop a product which offers $10,000 luxury for under $100—as many high end RVs and 5th-wheel trailers utilize complex self-leveling systems which cost exorbitant sums, but ETN wanted to offer similar convenience to everyday trailer owners.
The Beech Lane digital leveler provides real-time, two-axis leveling data to the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth—allowing them to quickly and precisely level their camper without leaving the driver’s seat of their vehicle. The app-provided measurements also show users exactly how far the trailer needs to be lifted and on which side, so manual leveling products can be placed one time without any guesswork or repeated trial and error. And with no wires to install, setup is a snap for owners of any style trailer.
SPARK facilitated this ground-up project, including the design of the physical enclosure from a sketch to manufactured parts, testing and support of electronics functionality, art direction for a clean and intuitive smartphone app, and even the packaging design for the finished product. Coming in at half the price of their chief competitor (and well under $100), Beech Lane’s leveling system has toppled what was once a monopolized market with a product that is outperforming on precision, intuitive operation, connectivity, and battery life.
Hose Support
One of SPARK’s first Beech Lane designs was a sewer hose support—an expandable chain of props which decrease in size to help waste flow smoothly from RV/trailer blackwater tanks into campground dump sites. Existing products were flimsy, unstable, excessively large to store, and had a tendency to “explode” apart when handled—leading to significant user frustration for a relatively infrequent-use accessory.
SPARK carefully designed a growing bridge-truss pattern that would be stiffer and more balanced than competitors, but also consume significantly less plastic and minimize friction to avoid snags and tipping when the hose is moved on the support. SPARK‘s key innovation was a smaller “skip segment” used to link each truss piece together. These segments nest into a recess on the back of each support truss, cutting the collapsed size by nearly half that of competing products, greatly reducing the weight and material use, and locking the parts together so they do not fall apart when shaken.
With SPARK’s support from concept through manufacturing, ETN was able to develop a complex tooling package for all 13 segments, and they were awarded a utility patent for the design, which is now selling on Amazon with glowing reviews.
Hose Adapter
Spinning off a popular glove box accessory for campers, Beech Lane wanted to raise the bar on universal hose adapters. These products are designed to fasten onto standard garden hoses and then slip fit onto whichever type of hose, spigot, faucet, or crude DIY setup that can serve as a campground water supply. These public-use fixtures are often stripped out, damaged, or misshapen, making it otherwise impossible to use with a standard hose or threaded fitting.
Existing products tended to be overly flexible and cheaply made, spurring many users to turn to crude “hacks” in order to prevent water pressure from splitting or separating pieces. The Beech Lane product was designed with a thicker wall, heavy duty elastomer to reduce incidents of damage and “ballooning” often seen in competing products. A custom machined brass fitting was also developed to improve quality and durability while also allowing for it to be insert-molded into the plastic sleeve with keying features, preventing the two parts from ever separating. Finally, grip features were added to help users easily pull the adapter onto water supplies even with wet hands.
Now available on ETN’s Amazon store, the hose adaptor is receiving high marks from users previously frustrated with lower quality alternatives built to minimize cost rather than solve problems.
Stacked Leveler
One of Beech Lane’s bread and butter products has been a curved ramp which allows users to level their camper to variable heights without pre-measuring or the slip risk of a triangular ramp. A wide range of leveling products exist, including direct competition, but each has notable drawbacks. Riding the success of their first generation product, ETN was ready for a refreshed design that would better serve user needs while creating a unique offering in a crowded market space.
While retaining the core functionality of a curved ramp, SPARK was able to slash nearly two-thirds of the weight (and subsequently the material consumption) from these surprisingly heavy products—without sacrificing strength to support even the heaviest trailers. SPARK also developed stack-on lifter parts which nest into the weight-reduction pockets and allow users to increase the ramp height beyond previous offerings if needed or maintain the easier adjustability of a lower grade ramp when they don’t. A second shortened ramp option was also created to resolve a frequent pain point for dual axle trailer owners: Previous products required them to literally cut several inches off their ramps to fit them between closely spaced rear tires.
ETN has secured a utility patent for this product as well and it has been receiving strong feedback as a lighter weight, less expensive, and more functional variation to a classic
Universal Stabilizer
While it might not look very exciting, Beech Lane’s universal stabilizer has been delighting customers since its release on their online store. Because many campers and trailers tend to rock side to side when people move about inside, this product is designed to fit under the bumper or frame of varied size trailers in order to provide stability right where users need it.
SPARK created a unique hinge design which allowed the stabilizer to tightly fold onto itself, cutting the collapsed size in half—saving users valuable storage space and saving ETN valuable shipping costs.
In addition to a solid and flexible design, SPARK also produced a full graphic assembly and installation instruction manual to make usage as easy and intuitive as possible for customers. The product is proving to be a top-seller and ETN currently has a utility patent pending on its novel folding feature.
Air Leveler
As a unique alternative to the rigid ramps, stacked blocks, and wood lumber often used to level campers, this product was one of several (including the stacked levelers) birthed from SPARK’s early work with ETN revolving around the question, “is there a better way to level a trailer?”
With the Air Leveler, users can simply tow their trailer onto the empty bladders and then inflate them with an electric pump while eyeing a level—no driving on and off, repositioning, or shouting from the driver’s seat required. However, the Air Levelers are an inherently love/hate product because they are easy to use, but they do not provide stability. This known fact positions the product as more of a niche favorite, but it did also lead to several successful stabilization accessories which SPARK has also designed for ETN.
SPARK was able to locate a manufacturer who could produce custom inner-tubes for this product and then designed a heavy-duty ramped sealing bracket as well as a self-equalizing inflation system to balance the air pressure between two bladders for dual axle trailers. Because of the inherent properties of “perching on air,” it may not be for everyone, but many customers have found it a breeze to use, so we remain proud to support an uncommon solution to a common problem.
