Considered one of America’s most beloved snack manufacturers simply refreshed its brand for the primary time in 18 years.
Hostess, the maker of snacks like Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Zingers, introduced a delicate new rebrand, which incorporates up to date packaging and a revamped logo, at the moment. The brand new brand is simplified and flat, dropping the drop shadow and gradient of the previous brand and changing it with a brand that makes use of a brand new font, brighter colours, and a cloud-like border the corporate says conveys “the sunshine and ethereal high quality of each Hostess snack.” The center within the brand stays, and the logos for every particular person snack model had been equally up to date in new fonts.
“This effort helps our commitments to modernize the model whereas selling the standard and style that helps differentiate our merchandise,” Aundrea Graver, director of promoting at Hostess mother or father firm J.M. Smucker Co. tells Quick Firm in an announcement. “Our aim is to excite present followers and encourage new followers to have interaction with the model.”
Hostess says it performed the redesign with a number of rounds of shopper testing, together with having shoppers consider packaging ideas and testing the merchandise on a digital retailer shelf to see the way it would possibly stand out in shops. They discovered shoppers choose the brand new packaging two to at least one.
The J.M. Smucker Co., greatest identified for its jams and types like Jif peanut butter and Uncrustables, acquired Hostess in 2023 for $5.6 billion. On the time of the sale, Smucker mentioned the acquisition would profit the corporate’s web gross sales development, working margin, and earnings development, however one yr later, sales have underperformed and Hostess laid off employees in August.
Smucker President Mark Smucker blamed the corporate’s challenges with Hostess on “continued cautiousness of the patron when it comes to inflation and decrease discretionary revenue” in addition to execution on the corporate’s half, however he promised a turnaround was coming.
“We actually have began to pivot,” Smucker mentioned on the corporate’s most up-to-date earnings name, citing the brand new packaging, and a brand new promoting and advertising marketing campaign within the new yr that can “communicate to the emotional connection to the model,” in addition to extra show and distribution, one thing that’s particularly vital for a product that’s typically an impulse purchase.
“We nonetheless really feel actually enthusiastic about Hostess,” Smucker mentioned, including that he anticipated to see enhancements within the coming quarters. “We love the model.”
A yellow banner on the brand new packaging says “New look, similar favorites!” but it surely’s unlikely shoppers will likely be too confused by Hostess’ rebrand. The snack firm’s revamped brand seems to be extra trendy with out straying too removed from the unique look. Appears like a recipe for fulfillment.