Path Design rebrands Chicken Tonight and Ragu

Path has worked with Symingtons on a number of projects, and was appointed to rebrand Ragu and Chicken Tonight last June. The new branding will be shown across all packaging and collateral for both brands.

For the Chicken Tonight project, Path was tasked with developing a new brand positioning that aimed to appeal to ‘time-poor cooks and busy families.’

Thomas Herman, Path Design partner, says, ‘Chicken Tonight was once very well loved. We realised there was a latent love for the brand that needed to be revived.’

The new jars revert back to the former curved-sided ‘egg jar’ shape, and uses a redrawn brand marque and typography.

A post-it note graphic device is used, while ingredients illustrations replace serving suggestion photography to deliver a ‘really strong flavour message’, according to the Herman.

The green brand colour has been retained to achieve on-shelf stand-out.

The new Ragu packaging aims to reference the brand’s Italian-American heritage.

David Cherrie, marketing controller at Symingtons says, ‘Ragu is the original pasta sauce, created in Rochester New York by the Cantisano family in 1937, so there is a real brand story to be told.

‘We asked Path to use this to give Ragu a credible, relevant personality and positioning and revive it in consumers’ eyes as the original pasta sauce.’

Path was briefed to create a jar and label that reference the original early 20^th century mason jars, and the new jars use heavy embossing and a ‘robust feel’, according to the consultancy.

The branding has been redrawn to appear more rustic, and the packaging features a ‘Norman Rockwell-style’ illustration of brand founder Assunta Cantisano.

Herman says, ‘There’s a real story there that we had to make relevent to the modern consumers. The original sauce had a real family figurehead, so we wanted to redraw the brand to a much bolder, classic look and work out how to make people identify with its origins.’

The brand’s red colour was retained due to its associations with Italy and tomato pasta sauce. The incumbent dark red was brightened, though the basil leaf graphic accent on the ‘u’ was retained.

The new designs for both Ragu and Chicken Tonight will launch early next month.