Charles

Design: ARK BBN
Project Type: Concept
Brand strategy: Charles
Location: Rupelmonde, Belgium
Packaging Contents: Meat Products
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Plastic
Printing Process: Screen Printing

From a locally cherished name to a national premium brand. Charles — known for its cooked meats, salads and prepared meals — is held in high esteem by both retailers (B2B) and consumers (B2C), thanks to a successful repositioning exercise: unique, recognisable and top quality. And utterly delicious, of course!

Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C)
The situation: Charles was not sufficiently well known (yet). The questions we asked ourselves:

1. What are the strong points of the brand today;
2. How can we make the brand stronger; and
3. How do we get the brand onto the shelves?

The answer was a B2B2C approach targeted at both retailers and consumers. On the one hand, we needed to persuade retailers to add an extra brand to their range — which would enable consumers to buy it. On the other hand, we needed to persuade consumers with products that were all about them — which would make retailers want to stock them.

Brand strategy: craftsmanship, quality and tradition
Charles has been providing the most delicious and honest cold meats, salads and prepared meals since 1935, offering a selection of pre-packaged products — prepared using family tradition methods — that has passed from grandfather to grandson.

No corners are cut; quality is what matters most

Our market research confirmed that this was the message the brand had to convey, that had to stand out on the shelves, and that had to make its way into consumers’ heads — and stay there. We translated this into a clear strategy that included the following answers to the Golden Circle questions:

Why: Sheer delight for connoisseurs and bon vivants
What: The finest cold meats, salads and prepared meals
How: The finest quality, prepared using traditional methods

Brand building: from local to national
Charles was already popular on its Waasland ‘home ground’, where it scored highly in terms of quality and brand recognition. Our client wanted to move towards a strong position in the rest of Flanders, so that’s where we targeted our communication efforts. We concentrated on brand development and experience and sent a tasteful style and consistent message out into the world.

Brand experience: unique, recognisable and distinctive
As Charles is unique on the market, its branding also had to be distinctive. We completed the brand’s narrative with stylish designs, storytelling that captured the imagination and premium food photography. And the rest, as they say, is history.