Andrew Keeble of Manor Born admits that when he first saw the results of his company’s expensive rebranding project, he thought: ‘Is that it…?’ When the company’s profits grew by 57 percent in the first three months of the new brand hitting the shelves, however, he knew it had been worthwhile.
Manor Born was a premium sausage maker without a premium brand and without premium brand buyers. The company was enjoying healthy sales in its local region of North Yorkshire, but was failing to capture more profitable markets elsewhere in the UK. Co-founders Debbie and Andrew Keeble knew it was the brand’s outdated look that was holding it back, and employed Leeds based design agency Elmwood to come up with something new.
At that time, the Manor Born brand, such as it was, involved a clip art cartoon illustration of a farmhouse, with a name that offered no insight into the company’s heritage, brand values or premium quality. ‘The timing of the Keebles’ decision to update the brand was significant,’ explains Jonathan Sands, Chairman of Elmwood. ‘Because of fears surrounding BSE, foot and mouth, GM and other food scares, consumers were beginning to demand real evidence of provenance on packaging, yet Manor Born’s packaging provided no cue.’
In order to encourage consumers to identify with the brand, Elmwood decided to dispense with Manor Born completely and introduce ‘Debbie & Andrew’s’ (although the Manor Born name is still used for the company’s non-retail business). A red heart shape was incorporated into the ampersand to convey the pride and passion that the couple have for their business and a photo of the couple featured on the reverse of the packaging. Black and silver were introduced into the overall scheme to convey the premium quality of the sausages.
The transformation of Manor Born has been successful for several reasons. Most obviously perhaps, the modern packaging design enables the sausages to sit comfortably alongside (and stand out against) other premium brands on the supermarket shelf. The introduction of the personalities behind the business offers consumers the opportunity to identify with the business, trust in the integrity of the brand and engage with Debbie and Andrew’s passion for food. Crucially, the redesign offers plenty of scope for brand development, an opportunity already seized by the company, which has subsequently introduced new members of the family to the packaging of different varieties and developed several brand extensions.
Since the new brand accurately conveys the premium nature of the sausages, Manor Born has been able to attract product partnerships with other premium brands such as Colmans Mustard, Heinz beans and Newcastle Brown, helping to position Debbie & Andrew’s (still a relatively small company) as a much bigger player in the overall groceries marketplace.
‘I was the most cynical person ever when it comes to design and branding,’ says Andrew. ‘But the changes we made during that initial redesign have been absolutely central to our subsequent success. The Debbie & Andrew’s brand has a real value that has a positive impact on us, our customers and our retail partners.’
