The classic 450gm sandwich loaf will never die. It will never get people particularly excited either. Bread, however, has its trends, collects its fans and develops distinctive brand personalities. PKN explores how branding and packaging is helping two bread trends make inroads into classic bread's market.
Bread trend no.1: The staff of life. Bread as an artisanal and ancient wholefood. Design company: Black Squid.
Laucke has been supplying quality flour to professional and home bakers throughout Australia for a very long time. A reinvigorated interest in home baking was providing the brand with an opportunity to lead with its heritage, that was being somewhat thwarted by Laucke’s dated branding and packaging design.
Black Squid Design changed that. Laucke was “reinvented” as the artisan baker’s brand. Heritage cues were used (paradoxically) as its key to modernity. Evocative images of artisanal breads were made the heroes of the new packaging. They suggest both how each flour in the range might be used and provide the visual food appeal that attracts consumers. They are positioned on the front of pack in various angles, views, crops or layout to create strong shelf presence and instant varietal differentiation.
The slate coloured design elements on a brown kraft card backdrop creates uniform branding across the packaging of 90 product lines and underscores the brand’s artisanal personality. The design won a distinction at the AGDA awards (Australian Graphic Design Association), a finalist position at AADC Adelaide Advertising & Design Club, InBook at D&AD and a silver at the Laminex Group DIA design awards.
Small World Bakery is a local artisan bakery in Langhorne Creek, South Australia, whose reputation stands on its high quality ingredients and ancient fermentation techniques to produce ‘real food'.
Black Squid’s brief was to create a logo, brand identity and packaging that promoted the bread’s authentic wholefood character. The agency hand-crafted a unique font and used a range of quirky farm illustrations on the bread wraps to represent the natural, rustic style of the bakery.
2. New food’s canvas. The base for a fresh food experience. Design company: Brother Design
Farrah’s wraps have quietly grown into market leaders in the flatbread category in New Zealand since their launch in 2010. But the sector is undergoing a transformation.
“NZ’s demand for wraps is exploding,” Brother Design noted. With a surge in demand comes a surge in competitors. So, to preserve its leadership position in the category, Farrah’s conducted a major brand review with Brother Design.
The result is a new look - based on a new strategic approach – that is evident in the packaging, in-store presence and communications.
“We needed the (pack) design not to just stand out, but to actively encourage purchase. The aim is to inspire people. Give them the confidence to use the wraps a little more adventurously. So the delicious-looking photography is almost a recipe: you can see what to do at a glance. And the design uses a clear window to show the actual wrap under the photography, making fantastic results seem that much closer,” Debbie Hyde, design director at Brother, commented.
Jenny McMillan, business development director at Brother, added. “We’re all aware that, as market leader, the conventional wisdom is ‘don’t rock the boat’. But the boat in this instance was already being rocked, as so many competitors clambered in and started charging about with launches, derivatives and me-too range extensions. So we decided to seize the initiative and shake up the segment ourselves. We moved the game on in terms of look, feel and pack function with bold colours, a unique pack design and inspirational photography.”
James Wigley, national marketing manager for Farrah’s, commented, “We knew we had a great new look and were confident that it would be well received. But the endorsements and compliments have been immediate and whole-hearted. Feedback is that our new look is transformational, providing real differentiation from the competition.”
