Winner
Manor Born Packaging Reinvention
Client
Manor Born
Consultancy
Elmwood Design

The brief
Debbie and Andrew Keeble, a farming couple in north Yorkshire, made and sold what they considered to be the best pork sausages on the market. The only problem was they were sold under the brand name ‘Manor Born’, a reference to the 1970s television sitcom, and the packaging featured generic clip art illustration of a farm. The manufacturers approached Elmwood with a view to increasing sales and achieve a greater presence in supermarkets.

The design
Elmwood believed both the name and packaging were holding the product back. In a food market obsessed with source and authenticity, the generic images and jokey name conveyed neither, which in turn failed to create brand loyalty or consumer confidence.

Instead, Elmwood decided to use the company founders’ names and created the brand name ‘Debbie & Andrew’s’ to stress the genuine family-run nature of the business. Different recipes were then named after members of the couple’s family, for example, ‘Grandpa Robinson’s Great Yorkshire Sausages.’ Elmwood also redesigned the packaging to make it stand out from the many other brands in the chiller cabinet.

The results
• Monthly turnover between June and September 2002 shot up by 57% - a result achieved with no other communication and no price changes.
• Tesco sales increased by 26%, and the supermarket agreed to stock the brand nationally, all due to the positive feedback created by the redesign.
• Debbie & Andrew’s sausages are now listed at 42 ASDA stores, and the supermarket also has plans to carry them nationwide, thanks in part to in-store tastings run by the couple themselves. Previously, the retailer refused to carry the brand, as they did not like the original packaging.
• Co-op and Sainsbury’s plan to stock the brand on a regional basis, whilst Morrison’s are listing the range on a national basis.