JKR overhauls McVitie’s image

Biscuit and cake giant McVitie’s is evolving its brand, with a new identity, packaging across its 1800 products, and point-of-sale material by Jones Knowles Ritchie.

The brand evolution is part of a marketing push planned for later this year, including a 3.5m advertising campaign, to strengthen the client’s market share.

The campaign will switch the emphasis from the “quality” value of the product to its emotional benefits.

The revamp aims to increase stature and authority of McVitie’s, while remaining recognisably of the brand.

“McVitie’s is already a popular brand with a lot of goodwill attached so we didn’t want to tamper too much. But we have changed it in subtle ways. With the logo we have increased the role of the wheatsheaf to emphasise the wholesome nature of the product,” says JKR managing director Nir Wegrzyn. The logo was last revamped in 1994 by Design Bridge.

The refreshed identity will roll-out gradually, starting early next month with the relaunch of Digestive and Homewheat Chocolate Digestive biscuit packs bearing the new identity. The packs will retain their current colour schemes and the biscuits within will carry the new logo.

The identity will then be applied to other new pack designs, point-of-sale material, livery and letterheads, with JKR creating all designs and working closely with United Biscuits-owned McVitie’s on strategy.

“We are putting the logo on the packs first because that is where the consumer is and we are talking about a consumer product here. It is more important to have the new designs in the store than on letterheading,” says Wegrzyn.

JKR has carried out a good deal of work for the client in the past and won the project without a pitch. It is carrying out a similar review for Heinz, revamping that client’s core ranges.

McVitie’s has sales of 1.7bn annually with 60 brands including Penguin and Jaffa Cakes.

Sales director Colin Hutchenson says in the longer term the group will look to “stretch” the McVitie’s brand further.

McVitie’s has confirmed it is putting the finishing touches to its first formal design and self-promotion roster and expects to announce its contents in the coming weeks (DW 6 February).