Cadbury modernizes iconic brand heritage with patterned packaging redesign

20 Apr 2020 --- Cadbury has revitalized its rich heritage in the chocolate sector through a new global redesign of its iconic purple packaging for both Cadbury and Cadbury Dairy Milk products. The chocolate colossus commissioned design agency Bulletproof to dig deep in the company’s archives and create a design that would reflect its founding progressive values in a “modern and relevant way.”

“It’s rare to have an opportunity to redesign such an iconic brand, especially one with such a connection to our childhoods. The brand’s equities are obvious; however, the storytelling within them wasn’t being realized. We don’t want to simply paint things purple, so we introduced a beautiful heritage-inspired pattern that adds depth and meaning. Our script no longer feels computer generated but instead created by the hand of Mr. Cadbury himself,” Nick Rees, Global Creative Director at Bulletproof, tells PackagingInsights.

Packaging is a key element of branding leveraged by companies to tell stories. “Storytelling: Winning with Words” was notably crowned as Innova Market Insights’ Top Trend for 2020 in F&B product development. Manufacturers are increasingly focusing on ingredient provenance and brand storytelling platforms in order to emphasize the taste and quality of their products. The redesign applies to Cadbury Dairy Milk's various different chocolate flavors.

To stand out on shelf, Cadbury’s new design features new iconography and typography aims to reinforce the Cadbury Dairy Milk assets and product story. A redrawn wordmark still portrays a signature inspired from the handwriting of founder John Cadbury, but with a “more contemporary feel.” In a further trip down memory lane, the Bulletproof design team recreated a distinctive Dairy Milk pattern based on the original 1905 pack to provide further depth and purpose to the iconic Cadbury purple. 

“For us, the challenge was more around living up to consumer expectations and delivering a design without affecting their deep love for the brand. It became apparent very early in the process that Cadbury is not only adored in the UK but it’s also one of those special brands that each market sees very much as their own. It’s that pressure and the pressure we put on ourselves that helps us push the creative thinking and delivery further every time,” says Rees.

Glass and a Half logo
The iconic “Glass and a Half” logo was also redesigned to directly link with the chocolate chunk, further emphasizing the quality of the ingredients and the classic creamy taste of Cadbury Dairy Milk that consumers covet.

"The thought that ‘there’s a Glass and a Half in everyone’ is extremely powerful,” Rees highlights.“The ‘Glass and a Half’ icon is a particular favorite. It’s elegant, intuitive, but more importantly, it feels real and no longer artificial. There have been many expressions of the ‘Glass and a Half’ through the ages. Still, we felt that the contrast of a simple stripped back illustration against ‘real life’ photography captured the generosity and natural goodness at the heart of the brand. The thought that ‘there’s a Glass and a Half in everyone’ is extremely powerful and so we needed a device to match the sentiment,” Rees highlights.

Filled with the iconic unit of milk, the Cadbury chocolate chunks are depicted from a birds-eye-view that gives the packaging a special 3D effect. “Over time, many brands have mimicked the Cadbury chunk. Each of our chunks bears the brand signature across the top and so we loved the idea of owning top-down photography. We used our in-house photographer to capture a true expression of the chunk, resisting the temptation to retouch and perfect,” Rees explains.

Sustainability front and back
As interest and demand for sustainably sourced products rise, food and beverage companies are increasingly conscious of how to employ verbal and visual language to communicate corporate sustainability. In this vein, Innova Market Insights has pegged “The Sustain Domain” as its third Top Trend for 2020 expected to influence F&B NPD.

A redrawn wordmark gives the signature inspired from the handwriting of founder John Cadbury a more "contemporary feel."In this space, Cadbury aimed to share more about its commitment to cocoa farmers and the environment on the new packaging. The Cocoa Life sustainability program has been integral to the brand for the past eight years, helping to train 140,000 cocoa farmers to look after the environment; plant 1.2 million trees in cocoa regions across the world and ensure cocoa farming is a viable livelihood. This has helped ensure that every Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate chunk is 100 percent sustainably sourced, the company affirms.

“To date, this has been hard to spot on the packaging and so by introducing a more visible tab device on the front, we can draw consumers’ attention to the more detailed information on the back of the pack. It’s this ‘sweating of the details’ that we’ve extended across all elements of the design through the entire brand world,” Rees concludes.

The new brand identity launch kicks off in Australia in May, followed by South Africa and Malaysia later in the year, with further markets, including the UK and Ireland, launching at the beginning of 2021.

By Anni Schleicher