Product redesign as a tool for building a stronger brand
— 2005-11-26 —

Tea Grguric, the Produkty Pitania Company’s Vice-President for Marketing describes how product redesign can be used to build stronger brand loyalty in the convenience food market.

Q:  Produkty Pitania has been a major player in the Russian frozen foods market for more than 10 years.  Why did you decide to redesign your brand now?

A:  In the 90s there was only a limited number of players in the market; so we didn’t need to do much in the way of sales promotion. Instead, we concentrated on streamlining production, while also maintaining the high quality of our products. We then focused on sales and distribution using a conventional push-strategy. But today there are more convenience food products to choose from in Russia, which has made it far more important to build customer preference for our products.  How do you do that? The answer is simple: by offering a product that fully reflects the values of our consumers.  And the right package design makes your product stand out by connecting with consumers at a more emotional, values-driven level.

Our goal at Produkty Pitania was to build stronger brand recognition for our Zolotoy Petushok brand, by redesigning its trademark logo and packaging.  It’s all part of our new pull-strategy, which is aimed at delivering key messages to consumers by using a much brighter brand design. 

Q:  What are some of the changes you have made?

A:  Given our growing competition, we simply needed to boost trademark recognition, while still maintaining the integrity of the existing package design.  So we have reworked our Zolotoy Petushok product trademark and packaging somewhat to create a more modern image that is easier for our consumers to recognize in the grocery case.  The Zolotoy Petushok brand targets average income consumers, aged 25 - 45, most of whom are working women with families, and who appreciate high-quality products that are both unique and convenient to prepare. Thus, we wanted our products to attract young, busy consumers – which meant a simpler, brighter design.     

Q:  Produkty Pitania has completely changed the colors on these packages. Did you worry that your current consumers would have a hard time recognizing the new look?

A:  We started the redesign process by conducting focus groups and hall tests among our target consumers, old and new – using both the Corporate Research Group and ROMIR.   And testing results showed that for one thing, consumers recognized the Zolotoy Petushok trademark by its checkered tablecloth, which Russians associate with home and family.  Therefore, we used this design element as the common denominator, so to speak, for all of our Zolotoy Petushok product packages.  Then we introduced different colored packaging as a way to differentiate product groups.  For example, red for ready-to-cook meat-based convenience foods; orange for ready-to-eat meals; green for vegetable products; and yellow for hot snacks.

It took about eight months to complete the redesign, which we believe is the optimal amount of time for such a job. You might ask why we devoted so much time and effort to this process. Because in this day and age, product packaging has become a hot marketing tool, especially given the self-service trend in retail, which has turned packages into “silent salesmen” when it comes to influencing consumer choice.

Q:  Did your target audience change when the brand’s image changed?

A:  By no means. On the contrary, we let consumer opinion be our guide at every stage of the redesign, with our new slogan being: "Tasty treat — excellent mood".  As time goes by, Russian lifestyles are changing, as well as tastes and aesthetic preferences. And as our consumers change, so do we, by producing products that fully meet their needs and wishes, and keeping up with modern market trends.

The Produkty Pitania Company is one of Russia’s largest frozen foods manufacturer, and the market leader in chicken-based convenience foods.  Presently, the company – which employs 1,800 people including 1,500 production professionals - produces a wide range of frozen convenience foods, under its hallmark Zolotoy Petushok and Domashnaya Skazka brands.   As such, Produkty Pitania - under the leadership of its CEO, Stefano Vlahovic - is one of Kaliningrad’s largest regional investors and employers.