wagamama at home

Rebecca Peel

Agency: Brandon
Executive Creative Director: Steve Conchie
Design Director: Bobby Wells
Senior Designer & Illustrator: Grace Buckley
Account Director: Emma Wilson
Photographer: Howard Shooter
Location: United Kingdom
Project Type: Produced
Client: All About Food and wagamama
Product Launch Location: United Kingdom
Packaging Contents: Asian food / meal kits / ingredients
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Cardboard / plastic

Challenge
With the UK hospitality industry pretty much closed down for most of 2020, wagamama launched its ‘Wok from Home’ channel, which allowed consumers to recreate their favourite dishes under the guidance of its Global Executive Chef and Brand Ambassador, Steve Mangleshot, but in their own way.

After seeing the positive impact of Wok From Home, wagamama was inspired to promote the benefits of nourishing both body and mind through cooking and make it easier for people to do so with a new range of meal kits, pastes and sauces.

omgsogd omgsogd

Solution
wagamama discovered that consumers want to expand their cooking repertoire but that they’re unsure of what to do. But, positive eating, positive living has long been a wagamama philosophy and so the emphasis of the new grocery range is placed on giving buyers the tools they need to recreate the beloved waga taste but allowing for a touch of creative flair.

This inspired the design territory of ‘add your own touch’, which is brought to life on pack through photography that heroes the food, and illustrations that visually represent the consumer getting creative in the kitchen.

The back of pack makes it easy for consumers to recreate the restaurant flavours with clear ‘shop’ and ‘cook’ sections for the ingredients list and cooking instructions, as well as handy tips, tricks and hacks to make the range as versatile as possible.

Impact
wagamama’s instantly recognisable identity takes pride of place to drive brand awareness in a new channel and the all-important tips and hacks encourage trial. And, true to wagamama’s kaizen philosophy (meaning good change), the brand’s promise of ‘Every Bowl Makes a Difference’ means a commitment to donate all profits that wagamama make from the sale of the range in the first twelve months to YoungMinds.

Initial consumer reaction to the range has been extremely positive online:

  • Best thing to come out of these past 18 months.
  • Best thing I’ve seen all day
  • these look amazing where are they stocked please?
  • Hi these look incredible- are any of them gluten free
  • game changer!
  • Shut up and take my money @wagamama_uk

“Brandon has been a fantastic partner in bringing the wagamama grocery range to life. With restaurant footfall obviously down on previous years, and consumer attitudes and lifestyles constantly changing, the brand needed a way to remain relevant in consumers’ lives. The new range actively gives shoppers the courage to be a little more adventurous through the familiarity of wagamama’s classics loved by so many – and hopefully many more to come.” – Clare Furlonger (Marketing Director, All About Food)

What’s Unique?
This project wasn’t about innovative techniques. It was about raising awareness of the wagamama brand in a different channel, and encouraging trial. It had to be recognisably wagamama, and stand out at shelf.