LU's Dino's died, Lotus' Dino's survived
Did you know that LU lost the rights of the Dinosaur biscuits to Lotus Bakeries? Nutrexpa and Lotus Bakeries placed a joint bid on the Spanish biscuit manufacturer Galletas Artiach, which holds the rights to the children's biscuit brand Dinosaur. This allowed Nutrexpa to buy the shares from Lotus Bakeries, by which they obtained the intellectual property rights of the concept in markets out of Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and Mexico. Previously, the licence for Belgium and France, granted by Artiach, went to LU.
LU didn't throw in the towel and started looking for a similar successor to LU's Dino biscuits. The brand eventually launched 'Aztec Jungle' for which they perfectly copied the flavour and recipe, only the shape was changed. Unfortunately for LU, consumers still chose the original Dinosaur biscuits, which LU lost to Lotus, and not LU's new Aztec Jungle biscuits. Therefore, LU opted to end the production of their Aztec biscuits...
Dino-battle
LU was convinced that consumers would prefer the 'original' taste and that the shape would take secondary importance. But, that turned out to be a real miscalculation.
LU's Dinosaur biscuits used to be popular in the Benelux and across Europe. However, its successor, the Aztec Jungle, was only marketed in Belgium, resulting in disappointing results in the production process. In reaction to this, Mondelez International, LU's parent brand, decided to discontinue the Aztec biscuits and decided to concentrate more on products with greater added value, a distinctive name and a strong brand awareness among consumers.
Distinctive brand elements
Think of the well-known Prince, Oreo and TUC biscuits. Each brand has some strong Brand Assets, or strong characteristics, by which it can be recognized. That explains why LU could not keep loyal Dino-eaters with the new Aztec Jungle biscuits, even though they were produced using the original recipe for its Dino biscuits.
Lotus came up with an innovative, similar recipe for the 'real' Dinosaur biscuits while conserving all the well-known Brand Assets such as the name, logo, visual look and feel and shape of the biscuits. With success, as all loyal fans followed.
"If 100 biscuits are sold, 82 will be Dinosaur biscuits and only 8 will be Aztec biscuits. That proves how strong a brand can be and how difficult it is to map out a new, similar brand."
Recognition is crucial to gain market share. Therefore, it is very important to build a strong Brand. The Brand Equity built through consistent use of marks or Brand Assets such as the name, colour, symbols, typography and also packaging in the food industry, can’t be changed or imitated.
Pick Up, The Knack!
Recently, Pick Up also touched up its well-known colours and packaging for the first time since the nineties. For its 22nd anniversary, the biscuit brand wanted to create a new, youthful identity with a focus on a distinctive Brand Asset; The Knack! In addition, each flavour has its own colour. Unfortunately, many recognizable elements have been lost in the process, which is a missed opportunity for Pick Up. Brands need to be careful that changes in their packaging or trendy short-term campaigns don’t damage the brand value that the brand has established.
Due to the changes made by Pick Up, we note that only the name was preserved. As a result, a lot of Brand Assets are lost which means the Brand will lose a lot of acquired Brand Equity.
Belgian Fries
A similar example from our portfolio is the rebranding of Belviva. When changing from Lutosa to Belviva, we monitored all Brand Assets so they were definitely included in the new look of the Brand. Lutosa was the brand of frozen fries that had been on the market for decades and became a classic in the ready-to-cook fries segment. When the brand and production unit were sold separately, Lutosa was forced to change its product fries name.
So we built the new name based on two elements: 'Bel' refers to the country of origin and the Belgian character. On the other hand, 'Viva' adds the dynamic dimension, with a reference to life's convivial moments where fries are a must.
The new name needed to fit perfectly with Lutosa's core identity as Local Belgian Potato Expert. Also the set of brand values: cordiality, accessibility, the local aspect, warmth, quality and authenticity received a lot of attention during this name creation process. If you add the characteristics of the brand personality to the brand values: recognizable, passionate, optimistic, funny and family-oriented, it became clear which feeling we wanted to create for the brand, while respecting the existing 'Brand Equity'.
Do you want to read more about this case? You can find the full case here.
