By the time, PZ Cussons bought baby food brand, Rafferty’s Garden, in 2013, the local “challenger” brand with a packaging USP had become Australia’s fastest growing brand in the category, with more than one multinational vying to own it.
Boxer & Co. was given the job of designing the packs that would reflect its new status and further extend the brand’s appeal. The agency worked on the project over 2014, re-designing the brand’s logo, re-working the lovable Rafferty baby character, creating a new pack design to apply across all 53 products and creating brand guidelines for future use.
The redesign was of personal interest for Boxer & Co.’s managing director, Gwen Blake. “I had been using the product for years with my children, enjoying the mix of convenience and realness that the brand offered. I had often imagined re-designing it. The idea behind the design was original and stand-out, but I felt it needed some sound strategic thinking, a good tidy up and a big hit of modernity.”
Jacqui Lawrey, Rafferty’s Garden marketing manager admitted that she was thrilled with the way the project ran. “Finding a packaging agency who could work on both the strategy and design was essential for our business. We have had such a great experience working with Boxer & Co. They have been fantastic partners who challenge and strive to deliver the best solution for their clients.”
This is how Blake re-imagined Rafferty’s Garden: “Through our research and strategic thinking, we realised that for babies and children, eating is about fun and enjoyment. Most parents will tell you that if they do the ‘choo choo’ train
or ‘aeroplane’ with babies food, there is a higher chance they will eat it. A lot of brands are tapping into parents’ fears about children’s food - such as health and nutrition - rather than celebrating the JOY of the eating experience. Children eat with all of their senses and love to explore more than anyone.
“We created a new platform for this fun-loving brand that came from observing how babies respond to food. Babies love having fun with food - getting stuck in, poking their fingers into everything. Exploring new textures, tastes, smells, getting messy and testing if things are squishy or squashy. Just exploring & enjoying the pleasures of simple, fresh, great tasting, real food.”
Mark Haygarth, creative director of Boxer & Co., explained the design process. “Rafferty’s Garden had great standout with eye-catching colours, but very little beyond this to help brand blocking and navigation. We decided early on that we needed to respect the essence of Rafferty’s Garden, retaining the joy, fun and realness that the brand represented, but it needed to stand up and punch at a heavier weight.
“We needed first to introduce a consistent brand colour across the range for greater impact on shelf and second give Rafferty and the logo a stronger role on the pack to aid instant recognition and brand recall.
“The joy of food message is reflected in the vegetable-coloured splats on each pack and the new, more artisan, illustrative style of the Rafferty character. We introduced food photography to give taste cues, since this is genuinely the best tasting baby food on the market.
“We realised that the age and food-type information in the top right hand corner is almost as important as the variety name, so we introduced an easy to navigate system, making it easy for busy mums to shop. We worked hard to make communication in this area as clear and concise for busy parent shoppers as possible, making the month indicator much bigger. We increased brand standout and introduced an architecture that allowed for both brand and variant areas.
“Over the years, the old packaging had more and more messages added to it, adding to the clutter. Once stripped back, the pack is cleaner, with fewer messages and more focus on what’s important, while injecting an exciting new feel.”
