Before its acquisition by Princes Foods in 2011, Crosse & Blackwell had become a tertiary brand, with no prior investment made in positioning or packaging or above the line support to nurture awareness. The challenge was to redesign the packaging and create a fully integrated campaign, which would reposition and revitalise the brand to overcome consumer perceptions of tinned food.
The solution was to go back to Crosse & Blackwell’s British roots, with a design that reflected the richness of its heritage and the quality of its ingredients. In a market with a decline of 12%, partly due to the milder winter weather, Crosse & Blackwell saw a massive uplift in sales by 6% after the re-launch. More importantly, during soup season, year on year sales increased by 18% and the redesign enabled a 58% increase to be applied to the price point. Crosse & Blackwell subsequently became the No 2 soup brand in Morrisons.
