Baltimor ketchup

UNILEVER STRIVES TO BOOST RUSSIAN MARKET SHARE WITH ANTHEM REDESIGN OF BALTIMOR KETCHUP

Unilever is making significant investment in its brands in Russia, with a major revamp of its Baltimor ketchup range. Russia is the second biggest ketchup market in the world – consumption per head is six times bigger than the world average and double the consumption of the USA – and Unilever leads the market with its two ketchup brands, Baltimor and Calvé. The brand overhaul has been carried out by the Dutch (Hilversum, NL) and UK offices of brand development agency Anthem Worldwide, part of Schawk, Inc.

The new look and feel for the brand re-establishes Baltimor as a trusted, high quality Russian brand. Anthem has taken iconic Russian imagery and strengthened the branding, maximising its relevance to the target audience. The Baltimor logo retains its recognisable font, while its shape has been optimized and a golden eagle emblem has been added. It also incorporates a bold ‘1995’ date stamp to highlight the product’s heritage as the country’s first major ketchup brand. The final touch was a golden tomato, making it the product hero and reflecting the product’s fresh ingredients

The rebrand is being launched across Baltimor’s range of 9 bottles (2 bottle sizes) and 5 doy packs (3 pack sizes), with product variants including Tomato Ketchup, Admiral and Shashlyk (barbecue) – a Russian favourite. The packaging features bold communication of the overall Baltimor proposition as abundant and generous – thick ketchup, with pieces of vegetables and herbs, which is rich in taste. In addition, there is more visual clarity about the proposition for each individual variant.

Bas Smit, Brand Development Director at Unilever, comments, “Anthem have done a fantastic job of distilling what makes Baltimor ‘uniquely Russian’ and conveying this in a truly appealing and bold way. Russians are proud of their heritage and we believe that by reminding them of our position as a local, premium brand that caters for the country’s love of ketchup on a variety of dishes, from pizza and pasta to meat, fish and eggs, we are offering something that is exceptional.”

Whilst some of the new look Baltimor variants have been on shelf for several weeks, the full launch of the range when all products are available in store across Russia is expected to be in early November. The launch is being supported by a TV and digital media campaign later on in the year.

Arthur Brandenburg van den Gronden, Strategy Director at Anthem, Hilversum (NL) adds, “This has been an extremely interesting and enjoyable project to work on. We found it fascinating to dive into the richness of Russian culture and identify how to reconnect consumers with their love of these fantastic products.”