Waking up the power of a redesign

Sainsbury Design was tasked by Kellogg’s with redesigning the packaging of their entire range of fortified breakfast cereals, based on three benefit pillars.

The goal of the redesign was to increase the on-shelf impact of multiple brands, whilst maintaining the integrity of their ownable visual assets.

The revamped packaging would be used to communicate important messages about the nutritional benefits of the vitamin and mineral ingredients that support people’s need to be active

Project Restart Goals

The brief was to create more coherent designs by removing some of the clutter that had crept into the design. A cleaner look was required to help each brand stand out on-shelf and to make it easier for consumers to identify the products and navigate the information on the front of pack. In this way, the key benefits of each cereal could be better communicated.

Kellog’s has been part of the South African family breakfast tablethrough generations

Matching the benefits to the audience

For each of the three products, a key benefit pillar was identified, and this helped to determine the target audience in each case. Kellogg’s Corn Flakes were linked to ‘Active Alert’ for parents and kids; Kellogg’s Rice Krispies were identified with ‘Growth and Development’ as an appeal to Moms shopping for their kids; and Kellogg’s All-Bran Flakes rested on claims of ‘Digestive Wellness’ aimed primarily at adults.

The importance of psychology

Mnemonic devices were created for each product to aid consumer understanding and memory of the key benefits. The front of pack layout was reworked to follow the typical ‘Z-scan’ that eye-tracking surveys have revealed is the most common way that shoppers navigate and process information on packaging, and careful consideration was given to the weighting of each of the key elements.

Finally, each mnemonic device was designed to be rendered in a colour and with one or more icons that reinforced its appeal to the audience segment. Each mnemonic also included the names of key ingredients that contribute to the benefit.

Back to the future

The master brand was designed to feature in an overarching red band at the top of the pack. On shelf, this creates an umbrella brand effect and lends itself to maximum impact when merchandised. Some visual elements – specifically the brand character on the Corn Flakes packet – were simplified and given a cleaner, more retro appeal.

Every colour tells a story

The ‘Active Alert’ mnemonic was rendered in red (for energy, passion and proactiveness) and orange (symbolising vitality). For Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, green was used for the ‘Growth Development’ mnemonic as it’s the colour of growth and wellness. To support the ‘Digestive Wellness’ message of All-Bran Flakes, a sophisticated and unique shade of purple was chosen to appeal to adults.

A spoonful of cereal…

The side panel of the redesigned packs was used to drill down into the ingredients of each cereal and their key nutritional benefits, again using colours and icons to illustrate and support the claims. Under the heading ‘Every Spoon Counts’, a stylised cutlery design was used to show that every spoonful of Kellogg’s cereal contains the essential vitamins and minerals required to achieve the relevant end benefit.

Backing up the message

The brief for the back of pack was to expand on the reasons to believe (RTB) and link back to the designated FOP benefit pillar. Whereas each cereal has nine ingredients we would want to call attention to, the decision was made to call out three key ingredients which support the specific benefit claims.

A degree of repetition was deemed essential to reinforce the benefit pillar message, and this was supported by the Kellogg’s ‘Nourish your Great’ pledge.

The result

more appealing packaging that will brighten up South African breakfast tables, and inform consumers as they enjoy the most important meal of the day.