ABOUT

The challenge:
Sara Lee is known for delicious, yet traditional desserts that families love. Despite strong equity with older consumers, Sara Lee frozen baked goods were getting overlooked by younger millennials. The brand wanted to connect with millennials by introducing a line of products more relevant to their needs: desserts for 1–2 people, offering flavor variety, enabling on-the-go enjoyment, and “Insta-worthy” enough to share on social media.

The Solution:
COHO’s solution was to dive deeper on the target and the competitive landscape of mini indulgences. From there, we created a new sub-brand—Sara’s Selections—to establish the new line as a platform for Sara Lee to offer individually-wrapped mini desserts that people can enjoy anytime, anywhere. The Sara’s Selections name lends a more personal touch to the Sara Lee parent brand and implies a sampling of delicious desserts that are sure to liven up anyone’s day. We designed the graphics to connect with the brand’s long heritage, yet modernized the brand impression to appeal to millennials. Along with this, we developed emotive flavor variety names to help tell each product’s story and convey a more joyful personality. Beyond package design, COHO created introduction videos to excite consumers, grab the attention of grocery buyers and drive sell-in.

Concept:
Deliver a contemporary line look that clearly communicates the proposition of the new Mini Dessert Platform (starting with mini cheesecakes)
Deliver on easy-to-navigate and easy-to-shop package design
Create an extendable design system for the line that can be applied across future line extensions
Overtly communicate and celebrate that this is a new and different offering from Sara Lee, yet one that fits with the brand
Provide fanciful variant/flavor names for the four unique flavors
Provide a premium and high-quality look that conveys Sara Lee’s equity in baking, consistent quality & great taste
Clearly communicate quality ingredients like real cream cheese, no artificial flavors, colors or HFCS
Appeal to the primary target audience of millennials

Execution:
COHO executed packaging elements including the indulgent tabletop photography, red ribbon information holding shape, handwritten sub-brand, wholesome illustration and real ingredient stamp.


Results:
TBD, but early data suggests high excitement with retailers

Project Credits:
Jon Shapiro - Chief Creative Officer
Trey Smith - Client Director
Annie Ledford - Design Director
Kate Raterman - Master Designer
Eric Warning - Designer
Tim Kron - Senior Realization Designer
Kevin Bova - Senior Designer
Gretchen Mahan - Senior Brand Strategist
Maria Fisher - Video Design & Editing
Ron Hamilton Photography