Peanut butter icon matures

Changing its message from one of purely fun to the energy-fueling benefits of peanut butter, Unilever's Skippy® brand peanut butter product line has undergone a brand identity update that, according to Martha Seidner, vp of Smith Design (www.smithdesign.com), the firm responsible for the redesign, communicates a more serious tone.

“Peanut butter is a truly viable protein source, and the brand wanted to play up this very important aspect to consumers,” she says. “In our society, many kids today face health issues due to poor dietary habits. Peanut butter really answers a need.”

To refresh the 70-plus-year-old iconic brand, Smith subtly modified the line's label graphics, while retaining the established jar packaging. Smith also preserved the color coding of the line's flavors, as well as the brand's use of red for its logo and a white cartouche framing the type. “There is a lot of equity in these colors,” remarks Seidner. “The color coding for the flavors also acts as an important cue for consumers shopping for their favorite flavor.” She adds that while the letter forms for the Skippy logotype have been updated, they still have very strong and obvious ties to the historic lettering.

The new labels made their debut on jars nationwide in the first quarter of 2006 on six existing varieties, as well as on two new flavors—Natural Creamy and Natural Super Chunk.

Emphasizing the more mature, nutritional position of the brand, Smith eliminated the cartoon Skippy brand character on the front of the label in favor of a new protein seal that touts the product's seven grams of protein, along with a new “zero trans fat” banner in the upper right-hand corner. In addition, Seidner says that all the peanut and peanut butter illustrations were recreated for “maximum appetite appeal.”