RAGÚ
MY ROLE:
Brand Strategy
Creative Direction
Art Direction/Photography
Print Production
Standards Creation
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I spearheaded Unilever's redesign of the Ragú brand, as they prepared to sell it to the Mizkan Group in 2014. The brand was, at the time, the category leader and, in most circles, understood to be "America's #1 Pasta Sauce." After doing intensive research, we determined that the bulk of sales came from one product, Ragú's "Old World Traditional" sauce. The simplest sauce within the portfolio, it appealed to a maternal consumer, and left her the option of customizing the sauce, if she was so inclined, while feeling no pressure to have to do so. The balance of the portfolio, we quickly discovered, appealed to a different consumer--a younger consumer interested in experiencing more of the world through the flavor options. This allowed us to better segment the portfolio and create a flavor/ingredient story with compelling visuals to appeal to this second demographic, without alienating Mom.
Once the strategy was approved, I directed a series of photo shoots to define the look and feel of this segment and to maximize the use of label space. By leveraging the foreground and background of the design, we enabled the brand to maintain it's large, iconic logo, while clearly communicating freshness and extreme taste appeal.
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Following the approval of all files, I supervised photo retouching, pre-production, and production. Finally, I created a style guide to be used for future development of any additional flavors.
