OPPORTUNITY

In early 2011, American Italian Pasta Company tapped PKG to refresh its largest brand, Mueller’s. We were excited to work with the AIPC team and partners to develop a new positioning, refresh the brandmark and ultimately refresh the packaging to attract new consumers.

STRATEGY

As a popular regional brand, Mueller’s has deep roots in the Northeast that go back over 145 years. It was our job to refresh the brand in a way that would keep current users happy, and bring new users to the brand. We chose to add imagery on pack to emphasize freshness through a pop of color and inspire new recipe ideas, while maintaining what had always worked for the brand.

CONSUMER FIRST

We listened to consumers throughout this project, from concept to completion. We interviewed consumers prior to concept to understand what they already loved about the Mueller's brand and we discovered huge equity in the wheat stalks and field of white on shelf.

As we concepted packaging we discovered that consumers saw Mueller's as an All-American pasta and we strove to maintain that vision. Consumers validated our strategy and were very drawn to the packaging with new inspirational imagery. The symmetry of our design concepts won over new and existing users in qualitative and quatitative testing.

SOLUTION

Our solution was to modernize the Mueller's brand without losing its classic appeal. The use of movement and simplicity of overall design helps the brand stand out in a crowded category. The use of side waves creates a new sense of brand block on shelf, while appetite appeal imagery helps differentiate cuts of pasta.

Our AIPC partners are so pleased with our work that we’ve since extended the design across the Mueller’s franchise for Whole Grain, Gluten Free and Hidden Veggie.