In an ever-evolving marketplace, maintaining the charm of a beloved heritage brand while infusing it with fresh energy is a delicate balancing act. Michela Graci, Strategy Partner at Coley Porter Bell, recently spearheaded the rejuvenation of Jammie Dodgers’ packaging—a project that required honouring the brand’s nostalgic roots while modernizing its visual identity.
Graci shares insights into the creative journey that led to the "Cheeky at Heart" concept, reflecting on the challenges, triumphs, and the surprising discoveries that shaped this iconic brand’s bold new look.
What was the brief for the new packaging?
Our brief was to rejuvenate and reassert the on-shelf brand presence for the current and future Jammie Dodgers portfolio. Jammie Dodgers’ beloved status and the brand's iconic assets – the jam heart, splat graphic, and playful typography – held immense power but were being deployed inconsistently across an expanding product range.
This lack of cohesion prevented these inherently playful and engaging brand equities from reaching their full potential, limiting the brand's ability to truly stand out on the shelf and hindering cohesiveness for future brand and product extensions.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
As part of our strategic process, we gathered the personal associations that people across the business have with the Jammie Dodgers brand. The response, in both volume and positivity, was overwhelming!
This activity helped us to understand the power of the brand’s nostalgia as well as which equities were key for us to leverage and futureproof the brand for years to come.
Describe the purpose of the brand and its target audience
The Jammie Dodgers’ brand purpose is all about using tasty treats to create light-hearted, family moments. The target audience is families with children, but it was very clear that Jammie Dodgers’ appeal is universal to all ages.
What was your thinking behind the new packaging?
Our creative strategy centered around celebrating the established love for the Jammie Dodgers brand, while infusing it with a fresh, modern energy and an ownable brand idea. The Unordinary Idea we developed was ‘Cheeky at Heart’; an idea that encapsulates the qualities that make up Jammie Dodgers.
It balances a good-natured yet mischievous brand attitude – one that deep-down is loved for its playful intention to test boundaries; with the most iconic visual feature of the product: the love heart. This concept became the guiding principle for the brand's visual and verbal identity, ensuring that every touchpoint reflected this playful evolution.
Did you learn anything new during the project?
Firstly, this project confirmed what an iconic British product Jammie Dodgers is – everyone who worked on the project had a positive, nostalgic affiliation with the brand.
And the project confirmed that evolving a heritage brand is a careful balance of retaining an essence of nostalgia and recognisable key equities, while injecting a dose of modernity.
What was the biggest challenge? How did you overcome it?
The challenge at the crux of the brief was to balance the needs of modernisation and evolution with preserving the respected, well established assets that hold lots of brand equity.
This balance was something we worked on in partnership with our clients atJammie Dodgers’ parent company, Fox’s Burton’s Companies (FBC), with lots of discussion and collaboration to reach a successful outcome.
What kit/tools/software were used to create it?
Initial concepts were sketched before being brought to life on the Mac. We collaborated with hand lettering artist Alison Carmichael to refine the iconic Jammie Dodgers wordmark, modernising its appearance while retaining its recognisable elements (such as the heart in the ‘O’ and the playful jaunty angles of the bubbly typography) – a nod to the brand's heritage while embracing a more contemporary look.
What details are you most proud of any why?
We’re very proud of the ‘sticker bomb’ language used across pack. It feels modern and fresh, while being intrinsic to the stickiness of the product.
The Jammie Dodgers logo is already a splodge of sticky jam, so stickers are a great interpretation of this that lean into the fun, playful and mischievous attitude of the brand. Stickers also allow the brand to appear where you don’t expect it, allowing the Jammie Dodgers to grow and be seen in places you’ve not seen it before.
What visual influences fuelled your solution?
We had a lot of fun embracing our younger, cheeky sides during the early stages of this project, to bring an unordinary idea to life. It was actually while sticker bombing a colleague’s notepad during a creative brainstorm that we landed on using stickers in our final creative solution.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
We had such fun working with our colleagues at FBC on this project and hope that the revitalised packaging support brand growth, as well as raising top of mind awareness with old and new generations of consumers.
How do you ensure consistency in brand messaging and visual identity across various channels and touchpoints?
We worked closely with FBC and their implementation agency, sharing our creative strategy and design intent for the packaging (including key master artwork files) to ensure a consistent visual approach at shelf.
What role did consumer research or market analysis play in shaping the direction of the packaging?
Research previously conducted by the client allowed us to understand to creatively position the brand in a way that would attract new consumers, without alienating current, as well as reasserting a distinctive brand positioning in the market.
Were there any unexpected insights or discoveries about the brand that emerged during the process?
As part of our brand induction, we found out that Jammie Dodgers are in fact dairy-free, making them suitable for consumers with specific dietary requirements – another example of how the brand appeal is universal!
Can you share any behind-the-scenes anecdotes or memorable moments from the project?
Seeing the finalised packs on shelf in store is always a project highlight – especially in this instance where the re-launch is supported by an exciting, new ATL campaign.
From a personal perspective, receiving a Jammie Dodgers hoodie from the client and the genuine reaction of surprise and happiness when my 7-year-old son saw it and thought I was the coolest mum for wearing it, is a moment that I’ll always remember.
What would you do differently if you could do it over again?
Eat Dodgers more responsibly! I definitely over-indulged.
Credit list for the work?
Harriet Sharp – Senior Account Director
James Ramsden – Executive Creative Director
Sam Stone – Creative Director
Isaac Sodipo – Design Director
Michela Graci – Strategy Partner
Dan Murphy – Designer
Briony Stokes – Designer
Ben Gale – Designer
Chanel Stracey – Designer
Phil Revell – Designer
Alison Carmichael – Hand Lettering Artist
Peter Cottington – Production Manager
Andy Donald – Senior Artworker
Joel Pearce – Production Artist
