Crutella — chocolate for creative and good mood

Private Label chocolate for the young and creative.

Time does not stand still and markets change. In Europe, the share of private labels in all FMCG sales has been between 15 and 20% for several decades. The share of private labels in Russia increased from 4.7% to 5.3% between May 2020 and April 2021, according to Nielsen. This is the highest figure of all time and will continue to grow.

Developing in this trend, Pyaterochka retail is developing its private label brands. And the team of Pyaterochka brand managers turned to us with the task of developing the Crutella chocolate brand. The business task of any classic retail is to increase the unit of profit per unit of area. But Pyaterochka also works with the online sales channel, and marketplaces have other performance indicators. But one way or another, the goal of our project was long-term income generation from the chocolate market through the creation and development of the Crutella brand. In such tasks, we strive to create a working chain consumer -> brand -> retail. And to do this, you need to understand the market, the nuances of modern retail and consumers.

After studying the market and competitors, it was decided to work with an audience of young girls and boys from 18 to 25 years old, since this niche was the least occupied.

To choose a direction in branding, we conducted 8 interviews with respondents to identify points of tension in needs, barriers, selection criteria, consumption situations, understanding the brand dependence of the category and the possibility of switching to a new brand. After that, we tested these points of tension on 225 respondents to confirm or refute this in a quantitative study. This allowed us to determine and confirm the needs and barriers on which we can build hypotheses for positioning and the value proposition of the Crutella brand. Research has shown that the category is brand dependent, but the audience is ready to switch to new brands. And this problem can be solved by massive expensive advertising or a value proposition, positioning and brand insight.

In the analysis of the research results and creative storming, among others, an insight was found – “We consume chocolate to create something interesting and new.” To reveal this insight, we developed several design solutions and concepts for online promotion. After quantitative testing, the solution with an individual character in the style of American cartoons of the 30s won. The character clearly reflects the flavor additive of chocolate and helps to differentiate flavor lines. In search of cool charismatic characters, we found the popular game Cuphead, their style refers to Disney of the 30s. Fashion and style are cyclical in everything, so rethinking such a style turned out to be an appropriate and bright technique in the development of the Crutella concept.

For online promotion, Insta-masks were developed, which are very good at attracting the audience to interact with the brand.

The brand lives on the shelves of the online and offline Pyaterochka in 3 SKUs. The originality and novelty of the design made a strong impression on consumers, who even began collecting Crutella labels. And many bloggers reviewed this new product and noted the successful taste and design.

Our approach with understanding of modern retail and consumers called us to create another strong brand in the private label category. We think that it has every chance to add another long-lived brand to our portfolio.

Everything will be Crutella!