The Challenge Sainsbury’s had been an early entrant into the organic food market with the introduction of the Sainsbury’s Organic brand in the 1980s, which by 2005 had grown to encompass 350 lines carried in 600 stores. But the brand was not keeping up with the increasing popularity of organic food, growing at just 6% in a market growing at 15%. This failure to keep up was costing Sainsbury’s an estimated £19million (Euro 28million) in lost revenue.
The Brief
The Sainsbury’s Organic own brand needed revitalising. The existing identity needed to be refreshed in order to make it more visible at point of purchase and to bring it into line with Sainsbury’s core values – fresh, tasty, healthy and safe. But it also needed to demonstrate that organic food was open to everyone and to locate it at the heart of the Sainsbury’s business. Williams Murray Hamm were tasked with creating best-in-class design: the overall aim was that Sainsbury’s would replace Tesco as the UK’s number one organic own label.
The Design
Sainsbury’s SO organic represents a new, more strident approach to organic own-brands. The acronym SO was adopted to give the range the feel of a committed, emphatic and definitive brand. Visually, SO sets the pace for a new breed of organic consumer. Moving away from the clichéd organic branding with its emphasis on pale, natural colours, hand crafted typography and images of landscapes and farm scenes, the packaging takes inspiration instead from botanical bookplate illustrations, showing key ingredients with ‘soil, roots and all’ on a vibrant green background.
The Results
Year on year sales for the redesigned range rose by 24% in one month and have been maintained since then, with total turnover rising from £150million (Euro 222million) to £186million (Euro 275million). With average weekly profits of £300,000 (Euro 444,500), the £308,000 (Euro 456,400) design work paid for itself by the end of the first week of trading. In February 2006 Sainsbury’s overtook Tesco as the UK’s number one own label organic retailer. Sainsbury’s SO organic range has also been cited in the City as a key driver in the company’s recent recovery.
Judges’ Comments
‘A tremendous job’, said Brian Tickle, Director of eCommerce at Orient Express, Hotels, Trains & Cruises, ‘the numbers speak for themselves’. He also acknowledged that it can be ‘difficult for retailers to manage sub-brands’ and commended the ‘clear and simple’ packaging design concept that ‘easily runs through not just the packaging but the display and stands on its own in the store’.
