Post by Sandra

The following items are being worked on by the team:

Leonie
Upload thumbnails of logo (the preferred design will be developed later)
Upload cereals competition research
Devise illustration based design for packaging
Create moodboard with design and inspiration

Clare
Devise pattern based packaging design
Create moodboard with design and inspiration

Sandra
Devise typography inspired packaging design
Create moodboard with design and inspiration

We will have 3 draft designs to show Flourish in our initial meeting with them on 4 March and some logo thumbnails plus an overview of our research.

Post by Clare

I came across this lovely packaging today and felt that we could come up with something similar for Spoon Cereal. I like the bold patterns on the side panels, combined with block colour.

Post by Sandra

Cereal market
Post by Sandra

Sales of cereals in the UK have increased slightly in value in the last couple of years (inflation), but volumes overall been fallen. The two growth areas of the market are hot cereals and museli as these tend to be seen as healthier (low carb) options. (Euromonitor, 2015).

The Financial Times reports that on-the-go options (biscuits, cereal pots and breakfast yoghurt pots) are set to increase in sales. Volumes of traditional cereals have fallen over the last 4 years. Oat-based cereals and granola are growth areas. Buyers want more protein, less carbs.

Tradition porridge and muesli are now seen as healthier (Just Food, 2013) with boxed cereals having an image of poor taste, low nutrients. Growth is higher at the premium end of the market. The breakfast skipper market is growing - bars and biscuits.

Keynote (2015) reports the ready to eat (cold) cereal market is rapidly decreasing against hot cereals.

Additions to SWOT analysis

Opportunities:
Market interest in "healthier" breakfast cereals
Move into on-the-go, hot cereals and gluten free market
Interest in protein rich cereals (eg nuts)
Premium products market share is growing
Fully utilise social media as this is an effective marketing avenue

Weaknesses:
Larger companies sell 60% of their products on discount, which small companies cannot afford to do.
Demand for gluten-free, on-the-go and hot cereals increasing Spoon do not currently operate in this market.

Actions
Post by Sandra

We reviewed and discussued our work so far and decided on the next action points.

Complete research of target market and customer profile, highlight ones for inclusion in SWOT analysis (bullet points) - Sandra

Complete research on competition - Leonie

Research boxes that have other uses that could be adapted for Spoon packaging - Clare

Create rough designs for Spoon logo - Leonie

Initial designs
We decided that each of us will work on some initial design thoughts based around the research done so far:

Photography of ingredients and Annie and Jonny with hand drawn type - Sandra
Pattern based design - Clare

Brand values
Spoon's brand values, we decided are:
NATURAL
CURRENT
ENERGETIC

Clare looked through the Spoon Cereal website to identify the key aspects of the brand. For example, who they are, their values and unique selling points. She also did a SWOT analysis for Spoon cereals.

Actions

Post by Sandra

The team met and decided what actions need to be completed before our first progress meeting with Flourish in about 4 week's time.

Key dates:

09/03/16 Flourish progress meeting
13/04/16 Flourish progress meeting
11/05/16 Final presentation to Flourish and Matt (10-15 minutes)
25/05/16 Hand in

At the initial presentation, Flourish stated that they expect our presentation to include the following:

1. Analysis of market (other brands, who is buying, what they are buying, what else they buy)
2. Definition of target market (male/female, age, interests, income, what is the problem to be solved, RRP, packaging costs)
3. Redesign of the brand (not brand guide)
4. Redesign of packaging (sensible production price and method, consider shelf space, display methods (e.g. fridge, stand etc, tear-front box etc), digital mockups not physical)
5. Design website mockups (desktop and mobile, to be brochure based, do not build site or include e-commerce)

We decided that we need to have 1, 2 and initial drawn or digital thumbnails for 3 ready for the first meeting. Initial tasks were allocated as follows:

1. Analysis of market
Market research - secondary research of journals, articles, web-research - Sandra
Moodboard for existing customers - Sandra (should this be under point 2?)
Photos of store displays - ?
Competition branding/packaging moodboard - Leonie
Website competition (moodboard?) - Leonie


2. Definition of target market

Seek meeting with Spoon - Sandra draft email - DONE
SWOT analysis - Clare
Brand values - Clare


3. Redesign of brand
??

SMART targets - to be decided on.

Taste test

Clare bought both versions of Spoon Cereal's granola from Sainsbury and a few of us tried it. The consensus was that the Cinnamon and Pecan variant was quite pleasant, but the Peanut and Apple had a nice distinct flavour. Neither contained the usual sultanas/raisins or very sweet dried fruit that is frequently found in granola.

We sent Spoon an email:

Harry Trussell, a friend of the founders' did the original branding and website development:


https://www.behance.net/gallery/14784765/Spoon-Cereals


Spoon's first website/blog (up to July 14):


http://spooncereals.blogspot.co.uk/

Spoon Cereals

Post by Sandra


Flourish presented our branding brief to the teams today at Uni. Our team was assigned Spoon Cereals. Although we were initially a little disappointed, as at first glance Spoon appear to have appealing branding, after doing some quick initial research we were filled with ideas.

Spoon produce granola flavoured with Maple syrup, in two (or possibly 4) varieties. Their slogan is "No small talk before breakfast". They appeared on Dragon's Den in 2014 and are supported by Deborah Meaden.

We brainstormed some initial tasks and allocated them as follows:

1. Draft email to introduce ourselves to Spoon and seek a meeting with them - Sandra. This will be followed up a week later by phone - Clare
2. Buy Spoon Cereals products - Clare
3. Research who buys cereals similar to Spoon's product range - Sandra
4. Research cereal packaging - Clare
5. Visit London stockists to see how the product is marketed and what competition looks like on the shelves - Harvey Nics, Wholefoods, Harrods (Sainsbury and Ocado are national retailers) - Clare & Sandra
6. Research cereals websites - Leonie
7. Create a Pinterest board and invite others - Sandra
8. Create a googledrive account for file sharing - Clare

Other tasks not discussed:
9. Research Spoon Cereals
10. Mindmap a few initial ideas for spoon and cereals - All

Everyone will subscribe to Spoons Instagram, Twitter and blog and sign up for their monthly newsletter.

Logo Development

After our meeting today to discuss our logo design, the group felt that Leonie's first logo could be the most suitable. We talked about strengths of the various designs. Clare worked on developing the logo to see whether other aspects could be incorporated. These were the results. We will make a final decision on Wednesday as to whether to keep the logo in it's current format or to go with one of these revisions.

On white background