Packaging is one of a brand’s major references for consumers, and it can prove key to conveying its values and identity. At Hispack 2022, Batllegroup, Morillas and Summa Branding—three of the most important branding and packaging agencies in the country and founding members of Aebrand, the Spanish Branding Association—showcased alongside their customers three examples of how to undertake the transformation and updating of existing brands by focusing on the packaging. These are the success stories of Dr. Oetker, TGT Group and Santiveri.
Dr. Oetker & Batllegroup: It all began with a sachet of yeast
Andrea Comas (Senior Brand Manager at Dr. Oetker) and Enric Batlle (CEO Batllegroup)
Starting point:
- The brand came into being in Germany in 1891 with the aim of selling yeast in sachets for domestic use and it has diversified its business areas over the course of more than a century, although it is best known for its food products. It arrived in Spain in 2005 with frozen pizzas and, in 2010, following the purchase of the Mandarín brand, it entered the world of confectionery, thus expanding its range to cakes and dessert preparations.
- The brand had not made any changes to its packaging for 15 years. In 2019, the marketing department proposed a change to upgrade and develop the packaging of its confectionery products.
The challenges:
- A lack of consistency in the product catalogue, as there were no branding guidelines for this category within the group.
- An outdated design and stand-offish packaging that failed to connect with the consumer.
- There was no unified typography among the packaging.
- There was a problem with the container colours and shapes; the colours were perceived as artificial and unrelated to confectionery, while there was a wide array of packaging formats being used.
- The shelves were extremely crowded, so it was difficult to stand out from the other brands, and the only competitor that was in any way distinctive was Royal.
Objectives:
- To generate engagement with the newer generations. Not only by address the “mother” of the family, who was, a priori, regarded as the main target audience for the products.
- Create consistency by means of a new architecture and appropriating a colour code.
- Design a “storytelling” to lead to a “storydoing”.
- Connect with younger consumers.
The reflection:
- Making pastries is an act of love involving an endearing time shared with family and friends. It is a playful moment, experimenting with different textures and liquids, and ultimately a memorable one. This was one of the pillars upon which the project was based.
- Concept developed: “Dreams come true”. Dreams alluding to people, ones that come true because the brand is guaranteed to work properly.
The solution:
- Creation of a new brand image and a corporate identity manual that was previously non-existent.
- Development of a chromatic range and a single colour for the entire product catalogue.
- Emphasis on visual references as a key aspect of the new packaging: the creation of “imperfect” product still-lifes, simulating the real result and bringing the packaging closer to the target audience.
- Development of iconographies to enhance the message and content, reinforcing the teaching function by, for example, indicating the ingredients and the difficulty of the recipe on the packaging.
- Consumer-friendly, clear and easily readable typography. As with the images, a certain degree of “imperfection” was sought with the calligraphy that was created.
- The inclusion of the Dr. Oetker signature on the sides of the product as a guarantee provided by the brand experience.
TGT Group & Morillas – How to make the leap from B2B to B2C
Laura Barragán (CMO | TGT Group) and Marc Morillas (CEO Morillas)
Starting point:
- A family business that has been manufacturing, selling and marketing a wide range of cheeses for over 50 years. It has 17 offices in Spain and 12 proprietary and associate factories.
- The brand’s assets were volume, price and discount, while the packaging consisted of a transparent bag with a product description.
The challenges:
- To shift from B2B to B2C while maintaining its recognition and positioning within the industry. It was a company with a great deal of credibility in terms of B2B in the hospitality channel, but it failed to seduce consumers as they approached the shelves.
- How to make the TGT Group known to the final consumer.
- Design a consistent, flexible brand with 400 different items.
- Maintain the sense of pride in belonging to the Group.
Objectives:
- Transform the corporate image and the product catalogue to reach the consumer.
- Shift from an industrial brand to one more approachable to the consumer.
The reflection:
- The question involved what the consumer thought and needed, rather than what the factory thought and wanted or what it had been doing in recent years.
The solution:
- Transformation of the corporate image by redesigning the packaging, brands and sub-brands from scratch.
- Development of a new brand architecture model, reorganising the product families based on the consumption moments, and creating some more functional brands and others that were more modern and premium. Reinforcement of the idea that there is a cheese for every moment (e.g. the time for a sandwich or the pairing of cheese and wine). In this regard, six groups were created in keeping with the moment of consumption, with values associated with each moment. This classification helped to classify the cheeses.
- It had to be borne in mind that the “parent” brand, the TGT Group, had to play a flexible role with more or less prominence on the packaging, depending on the category of cheese.
- Development of a descriptive icon system —known as a navigation panel— to provide useful information for the consumer, thus performing a didactic task (kind of milk, intensity, weight and so on).
- Creation of a typeface suitable for the product to inspire “creaminess”.
- Incorporation of an emotional motto (“Since 1963”) to recall the importance of the company’s expertise and knowledge accrued over more than 50 years.
- Use of the Group’s lorries as advertising tools and measurements of the audience’s exposure to the adverts.
- Evolution and creation of new names for the brands. Depending on the consumption moment, the namings were descriptive (La bocatería and Los quesencillos) or they had a story behind them (Oh My Cheese and Ahuyentalobos).
Oh My Cheese and Ahuyentalobos:
- In the case of the restyling of the packaging for Oh My Cheese (cheese pearls filled with jam), a surprise factor was sought to capture the millennial public with ground-breaking codes and the creation of a brand manifesto. The modified packaging increased sales of this product by 19% in 2021 set against the previous year.
- With Ahuyentalobos, the TGT Group and Morillas created a radically different brand in the classic cheese category to compete with ones such as Flor de Esgueva. Starting with the naming, a modern look was sought (the sheep was given a piercing) with the aim of breaking down barriers and impacting consumers. More than 100,000 kg of Ahuyentalobos brand cheese have been sold.
Santiveri & Summa Branding – The transformation of a family brand
Marta Gabarró (marketing director at Casa Santiveri) and Mireia Molas (director of Barcelona-Summa Branding)
Starting point:
- Santiveri was set up in 1885 by Jaime Santiveri, a Catalan businessman who, due to lung problems, became interested in natural therapies and a healthy lifestyle, founding the first dietary product store in Spain.
- The brand has a perception of itself as a “sleeping giant”.
The challenges:
- A brand with over 41 sub-brands and more than 30 different categories, each with its own particular features. There were no clear roles for the brands that were created, no stories behind them, and no relationship with Santiveri, the parent brand. How could the company be reorganised?
- By gradually re-conquering the space it had lost, as it had very powerful competitors in the world of mass consumption and the pharmaceutical industry.
- By updating the brand’s packaging.
Objectives:
- Reconnect with the consumer who knew the brand.
- Make itself known and amenable to a younger target.
The reflection:
- This major learning task was reflected in an expression: “sacar pecho” or the need to flex your muscles. In other words, it had to fine-tune what was being done and add value to the brand and what it was perceived as, rather than seek a re-positioning.
- The purpose of promoting a society in which people feel better by offering healthy and innovative solutions within everyone’s reach.
The solution:
- A project involving transformation at all levels while focusing on the packaging.
- Development of a new slogan: “feeling good”.
- A monolithic structure: the only important brand was Santiveri with a few exceptions, due to the recognition of this sub-brand among consumers.
- Creation of a transversal brand block for all product categories.
- Focus on two verticals: organic and gluten-free products. The rest of the catalogue was structured upon the basis of the above. This was a natural evolution, because consumers knew and recognised Santiveri.
- In terms of brand identity at a visual level, the leaf was dispensed with, opting for a more readable, modern style and recovering some features of the traditional identity. In this regard, the pride of being active since 1885 was recovered, incorporating it as the main message.
- Development of clear messages and clean packs.
- Incorporation of the product into the package facing, enhancing the packaging of the product and replicating it in terms of consumption. Emphasis on the hand-crafted and healthy concept
Cristina Benavides, Hispack partner
