Mr Kipling's cake is for life, not just for birthdays

Cake is like pizza; even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good. But when the craving strikes and consumers browse the supermarket isles overwhelmed by choice, it’s not flavour that will lure them in, it’s packaging.

To avoid getting stale, UK brand of baked goods Mr Kipling has appointed Leeds-based strategic branding agency, Robot Food to deliver a visual identity makeover that would position the organisation as an international brand.

Kimberley Tonge, senior brand manager for international of sweet treats at Premier Foods, owner of Mr Kipling, says, “It was clear there was a great opportunity in both the US and Australia for Mr Kipling to provide a sophisticated, high-quality packaged cake, but entering as a challenger brand, Mr Kipling would need a bold new presence to compete."

Looking past Mr Kipling’s existing UK-centric equity, and with an international-focused strategy in mind and a determination to reinvent the brand, Robot Food’s designs use Kipling’s baked goods as icons, putting them at the centre of the new brand, creating a fresh and contemporary identity.

Martin Widdowfield, creative director at Robot Food, says, “We drew inspiration from European patisseries and chose bright pastels for a fresh, contemporary aesthetic over stronger bold colours that risked feeling artificial.”

The new brand for Mr Kipling features a subtle, but ever-changing, pastel colour palette that’s time eye-catching without being too loud. Furthermore, the classic Mr Kipling wordmark still keeps its dominant position on the products’ packaging, while the strapline ‘Exceedingly good cakes’ has been replaced by the much more modern ‘Make every day delicious,’ aiming to address a younger audience.

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