Designing from the brink Lees of Scotland Packaging redesign for Snowballs and Teacakes Authors: Iain Donaldson and Clive Miquel Word count: 1483 Category: 4.3 Food and Drink
Executive summary Lees produce a wide range of confectionary products, primarily under the moniker of Lees of Scotland. Their products include Snowballs and Teacakes, which exist in a wildly cluttered and competitive marketplace. The previous packaging of these products was a significant contributor to falling sales of these products and there was a real risk that a continuing sales decline would lead to an eventual de-listing of both lines from supermarket shelves. Lees needed a complete packaging overhaul to revitalise their products and, in turn, their brand. In collaboration with Lees, Flock created a bold and modern design for their classic Teacake and Snowball lines, a design that achieved strong shelf stand out and was flexible enough to be adapted to additional product lines in the future. Sales of Snowballs and Teacakes increased by 25% following the introduction of the new design, while their place on the shelves of Scottish supermarkets was reaffirmed. Importantly, the redesign also contributed to Lees achieving national listings with key UK retailers and helped create twenty new local jobs to meet this surging demand.
Background Lees of Scotland is a Scottish institution, established in 1931 by John Justice Lees, the son of a Coatbridge greengrocer. It was young John s ill-fated attempts to produce a smooth chocolate bar that resulted in the creation of the classic Lees Macaroon Bar and acted as the foundation of the business. Lees products are primarily sold in UK retailers, although they also sell direct to the food sector and have a small export market. In spite of their UK wide distribution, only in Scotland do Lees enjoy a presence in the large supermarket chains. Today the company produces a wide range of confectionery products, including Snowballs, Teacakes, Meringues and their signature Macaroon Bar. Throughout the company s history they have remained true to their North Lanarkshire roots and are a vital local employer in the Coatbridge region, employing approximately three hundred staff.
Competition Lees products exist in an extremely competitive marketplace a mere glance at the biscuit and cake aisles of a supermarket is evidence enough of this. They compete for shelf space and product stand out against industry behemoths such as Nestle, Cadbury s, McVities and Mr Kipling - as well as an ever expanding range of supermarket own brand goods. Even for a relatively niche product such as Teacakes, Lees face direct competition from supermarket own brands, who widely undercut them in price, Cadbury s and the iconic Scottish classic, the Tunnocks Teacake. Broader trends towards healthier living as people try to cut down on sweet products, as well as the revitalised, Paul Hollywood inspired market for home baking, only adds to the scale of the competition faced by Lees.
The challenge Over its long and storied history the packaging and design style of Lees products has been very changeable and, at times, inconsistent. The most recent packaging for Snowballs and Teacakes were old fashioned and in desperate need of a fresh look, one that would improve shelf standout.
The challenge continued As a result of the dated packaging, fiercely competitive marketplace and growing pressure for improved terms and pricing from the retailers, Lees were facing very challenging trading conditions. A vital component of Lees Business Plan was to expand their sales of Snowballs and Teacakes, and instead these trading conditions were resulting in declining sales. Another ongoing challenge the company faced was, as a relatively small business, it lacked the huge marketing departments and budgets enjoyed by many of their competitors. Collaborating directly with the Managing Director, Clive Miquel, and working to a modest budget, the brief was to create a completely new style for the key Snowball and Teacake lines. Indeed, there was a very real chance that it was going to see their products pulled from supermarket shelves due to this sales decline. This would have had serious repercussions for Lees continuing ambitions to grow sales and profits, and increase their market share.
Insights The existing packaging design was dated and did nothing to reinforce the quality of the product within. It was in desperate need of modernisation. Lack of consistency across Lees packaging range there was no consistent theme to link their products together. Snowballs and Teacakes are a simple, honest and clean product (not overly processed). Products are ideal for occasions, i.e. with a cup of tea an everyday treat for the family. Even if people are trying to eat healthier, they still want to treat themselves to some chocolate occasionally. Mums remain the primary purchaser for family shopping, so they continue to be the primary target market for confectionary goods and as such, products must primarily appeal to them. New higher quality, all British ingredients (except the coconut) were to be introduced alongside the new packaging design.
Objectives Lees Snowballs and Teacakes have been enjoyed by families for generations and we want to ensure our products remain fresh and appealing to customers both old and new. Bert Croll, Lees Sales Director Primary objective To revitalise the Lees products, starting first with their Snowballs and Teacakes. Further aims included Increase shelf standout and brand prominence. Reflect confidence in the brand and pride in the high quality of produce. Arrest the sales decline of Snowballs and Teacakes and prevent the products being pulled from supermarket shelves. Help expand Lees distribution into the large supermarket chains out with Scotland.
We come along with a strong proposition and it gives the retailers an opportunity to make their shelves look a bit different. Clive Miquel, Chief Executive of Lees
Creative solution With the design, we sought to completely distance Lees from their previous packaging and develop a completely new visual style that could be used by the brand moving forward. In spite of the traditional nature of the products, we decided to use a modern and clean design which focused on the product. The quality of the Snowballs and Teacakes meant there was no need to overcomplicate the design and by forgoing a retro inspired design, Lees avoided directly competing with the classic designs of rivals Tunnocks. Instead, focus was given to keeping the designs simple and to maximise shelf standout. The product image and logo were given space to breathe, without additional and distracting graphic elements. The product photography was key and working together with specialist food photographer Alastair Ferrier, we created a naturally styled and tasty looking imagery which focussed on the premium quality mallow and jam fillings and chocolate coatings. This style was chosen to contrast with the overly styled and photoshopped, fake perfection so prevalent amongst many of Lees competitors. The bold, product led packaging was specifically designed to appeal to mothers doing their weekly shop who are looking to treat themselves and their children.
The deliverables for the redesign were a complete overhaul of the packaging for Lees Snowballs, Teacakes and the Jaffa Teacake line extension. While cardboard ten-packs became their primary packaging, the design was also used for six and fourteen packs that used flow wrapping. Deliverables
Results The new designs for Snowballs and Teacakes provided a bold new direction for the Lees brand moving forward. It added prestige to a brand, whose previous packaging line was severely lacking. Furthermore, the design is adaptable and can be utilised on further product lines moving forward, using the combination of single bold colours and high quality close up food photography. In the first six months of 2013, new designs hit the retailer shelves and Lees saw sales of Snowballs and Teacakes increase by 25%. The additional sales of Snowballs and Teacakes contributed to an overall increase in Lees Foods turnover of 6% for the first 6 months of the year.
act. F Sales of Lees Snowballs and Lees Teacakes increased by 25% following the introduction of the new design.
Results continued The very real risk of seeing Lees pulled from supermarket shelves has thankfully been put to bed as sales have increased, with the brand remaining prominently positioned in retailers for the foreseeable future. Furthermore the packaging redesign played a significant role in allowing Lees to expand distribution securing national listings with the major UK retailers products are now available in three of the big four supermarket chains across the UK. A further result of the redesign and the sales increase has been that Lees have been able to hire twenty new factory staff to help meet the extra demand for Snowballs and Teacakes. Twenty new jobs may not seem like a lot, but for a local SME this shows how big an impact the redesign has had and provides a boost to the North Lanarkshire economy.
The increase in popularity of Lees Snowballs and Teacakes since the introduction of the new packaging has surpassed expectations. It s a good situation to be in at the moment, from a production perspective it is a challenge to satisfy demand. Clive Miquel, Chief Executive of Lees