This Way Up creates trendy new look for Finnish brand Panda Liquorice

The London-based creative agency, which works exclusively with healthy food and drink brands, refreshed the confectionary company’s identity by highlighting liquorice’s natural properties to younger consumers.

Concerned about consumer perceptions that liquorice is for older people, Panda has enlisted the help of This Way Up to repackage its brand. By using more vibrant designs to appeal to youthful confectionery lovers, it hopes to retain their position of being a category leader. Additionally, a new tagline aims to encourage the target market to “be more Panda”.

“Panda’s competitors all look very much the same: a round, black logo and white type,” says David Pearman, This Way Up creative director. “Panda is the original liquorice, and it needed to better communicate its role as a brand leader.”

Priding their products on only comprising of four ingredients, Panda has tried to market itself to consumers who are younger and more health-conscious.

“We needed to find the sweet spot between the familiar cues of the category and some of the more emergent codes of healthier indulgence,” says Amber Hart, the Account Director at This Way Up.

“Panda natural liquorice has a short ingredients list and there are no real nasties in there, so if you're going to indulge in confectionery, Panda is a positive choice.”

Embracing the brand’s Finnish heritage is also of great importance. An amalgamation of calm, colourful illustrations such as lakes, typical in Panda’s homeland, along with youthful characters relaxing and kicking back, will be used on social media to target a younger audience. The recognisable flower-like ‘revolver’ shape of the liquorice adds to the aesthetics of the product, appearing across their packaging, website and social media advertising.