Following a three way pitch, Anthem Worldwide, the strategic design division of Schawk, whose integrated global network provides innovative solutions to articulate, unify and manage brand impact to create compelling and consistent brand experiences, has been appointed by PLUS supermarket chain in the Netherlands to create a positioning, design strategy and brand architecture that will work across its whole private label portfolio. The objectives are to create a look and feel for PLUS’s products that reflects the retailer’s brand values and delivers a brand in its own right for PLUS which does not follow ‘A’ brands.
Pgolo: PLUS’s new branding developed by Anthem Worldwide
Cécile van den Heuvel, Brand Manager at PLUS, comments, “We appointed Anthem as they demonstrated a very deep understanding of our brand and provided us with a clear roadmap outlining how we could achieve our objectives. We love their design concept of ‘Everyday simplicity’ which totally reflects the positioning they have created for us as ‘the most attentive private label’. At PLUS we pay attention to the daily lives of our customers, try to help them to simplify and add value to their complex and busy daily lives.”
Arthur Brandenburg van den Gronden, Director, Client Services and Business Development Europe at Anthem Worldwide, adds, “To create a design strategy that will define a clear position for PLUS as a major private brand and implement this across more than 3000 of products makes this is a huge and exciting project to be working on. We believe that the distinct look and feel we have created is bold, attractive and will create real standout on shelf.”
The overarching design concept has been used to create one face and one voice which will be applied across all PLUS private brand propositions and products, using consistent branding that is: simple, clear and free of unnecessary detail; friendly and homely with imagery and colours that are sympathetic and warm; distinctive and desirable, with elements of surprise used on packaging to create a look that differentiates PLUS both from the major brands and also the traditional ‘me-too’ style of retailer private brands.
The new strategic design created by Anthem NL will be implemented across the entire Plus portfolio:
PLUS Vers—all fresh products
PLUS Huismerk—basic packed core range
Bold photography will be a major feature of PLUS product packaging where image is everything. Depending on which brand proposition it is being used for it will need to be a combination of simple, inviting, realistic, clean, modern, simple, natural and/or fresh.
The first of the new PLUS product packaging will be the fresh assortment; this will hit the shelves of the 270 PLUS supermarkets across the Netherlands this week and will be rolled out in 2011. The Plus Huismerk packed core range will be rolled out in 2012.