Overheard at Huxly: 28 July-1 Aug

This Week on Overheard: Bournville’s Revamp, Gen Z Wine Brands and a Great British Sandwich Conundrum

This week our team’s been reflecting on how much-loved brands can successfully reach into exciting new opportunity spaces, and when to accept the barriers are just too high.  

Catch this week's Huxly hot takes below 👇

 It’s giving demure, considered, drinking

We love to see that wine brands are finally starting to update their image and offering for younger LDA drinkers. We know all too well that LDA Gen Z are drinking significantly less alcohol than previous generations, but there is still opportunity to appeal to them.

 Mintel research shows that those that do tend to drink alcohol see it as an occasional treat for special occasions, rather than a regular, relaxing refreshment. Echo Fall’s recent collaboration with GK Barry is a sign the brand is becoming fluent in the language of the internet and reflecting it’s Love of Huns target audience back to themselves. In the US, we also love what Whiny Baby is doing with their packaging – each bottles features a space on the back to record where and when it was drunk, as well as memories associated with it.

By creating product and brand experiences that go beyond the immediate physical pleasure of drinking and tap into the deeper emotional driver of belonging (to a friendship group or a wider generation) alcohol brands can resonate with younger drinkers by offering these more holistic, gratifying experiences.

A new era for Bournville

We’re loving Bournville’s launch of two new product SKUs and its packaging rebrand. Both new flavors retain the elegant intensity of dark chocolate - the salted caramel makes it more accessible, while the chopped hazelnut makes a quick hit of pleasure more satisfying and sustained.

The new design hits the contemporary nostalgia nail on the head, not alienating its current audience using the traditional font, but broadening appeal with its bright contemporary color scheme. We also love the touch of the embossed “B” from the original 1908 Bournville packaging on every chocolate bar.

We can’t wait to see the accompanying multi-channel campaign coming out this month – Bournville’s first in over 50 years!

The Great British Sandwich Conundrum

For a nation that loves sandwiches so much, why doesn’t the UK have a national sandwich chain? This question arose as this week another US sandwich chain, Which Wich, has announced plans to expand its restaurants across the UK.

Sandwiches are the cornerstone of any British lunchbox, so it feels like an open goal for there to be a national sandwich chain in the same way that the US has Subway. Of course we have Greggs, but its business model is very much pastry-led. What is holding back this opportunity? Our take is that no matter how exciting or indulgent you make a British sandwich, culturally, we can’t escape the value benchmark of a supermarket one. While the US has its indulgent subs and France has its refined baguettes, we’re happy for our sandwiches to be convenient and acceptably unexciting.

 It’s tough to over-ride this cultural programming and get people to pay a premium for it. There is more opportunity to break into the on-the-go lunch space through other categories like pasties and empanadas - free from the constraints of the British sandwich.

Our top tip of the week…

Get yourself down to M&S to gorge on their viral Strawberry and Crème Sandwich – now the hysteria has past, they’re all on special offer! A delicious product but perhaps not one with shelf staying power.

Until next time, stay curious!