WMH rediscovers Phileas Fogg brand

Williams Murray Hamm has designed packaging for premium crisps brand Phileas Fogg, due to launch next month. The relaunch is part of the brand’s drive to reclaim leadership in its category against rivals such as Kettle Chips.

The redesign is intended to create the idea of a globetrotting, entrepreneurial brand and draws on its original positioning of being located in ‘Medomsley Road, Consett’, says William Murray Hamm director Richard Williams.

‘Our instinctive feeling was that this was a truly great brand – one of the most famous brands of the 1980s. It completely opened up the premium adult snacks market in terms of both flavours and identity.

‘Flavours like chilli and garlic weren’t mass market then and the execution [of the packaging] with its Victorian theme was very involved and distinctive. But now it faces new pressures,’ he says.

The consultancy carried out a lengthy strategic phase, including a session on marketing issues with a panel of experts from the restaurant industry, before developing creative ideas.

Chefs at five well-known restaurants, which include Moro and The Sugar Club, were also briefed to come up with new product ideas that have inspired the client’s own product team, says Williams.

Photographer Pete Seaward was commissioned to take shots of Phileas Fogg staff in various locations around the world.

The consultancy was appointed without a pitch in June last year. WMH Creative director Garrick Hamm led the project.