Kiss recently rebranded Yorkshire smoked salmon producer Bleiker’s Smokehouse. Kiss Branding was brought onboard to consolidate and refresh the long-established Yorkshire fish business’ brand after it struggled to gain stand out in the smoked salmon category. The creative team consolidated the brands’ identity and completely redesigned its look and feel to appeal to a younger health-conscious consumer. The packaging needed to future-proof the brand and ensure it stood-out as the contemporary range in what is a dated and traditional seafood category.
“We wanted to shift the attitude of smoked salmon from an 80s dinner party starter to something much more foodie and exciting,” commented Poonam Saini, Creative Director of Kiss. “Inspiration came from the family smokehouse and their creative approach to flavors but also the new ways smoked salmon is consumed. This led to a shelf standout creative design that felt fresh, fun and flavourful, stepping away from the dark doomy landscapes typically seen across the category.”
This approach has clearly worked with Bleiker’s Smokehouse being asked to scale up from regional to national distribution following increased rates of sale in major retailers since the rebrand.
The new-look Bleiker’s Smokehouse line has reinvigorated a food category with a fresh new approach which adds interest and excitement to a dull fixture. The new range positions smoked salmon on the Yorkshire foodie scene and appeals to health-conscious millennials with an appetite for protein.
“Consumer research revealed that smoked salmon was being consumed much more casually by customers and used as an ingredient to enhance a dish or even as a protein snack,” said Matt Kilb, Strategic director of Kiss. “Although millennials enjoyed eating smoked salmon, their perception of the product was dated, seen as something for dinner parties or nans Christmas spread and therefore not a product they saw themselves buying. This was reinforced further by the old fashioned look of the smoked salmon fixture.”
