Brand communications agency Marsden/Mee is celebrating after winning Branding Project of the Year at the UK Packaging Awards for its work with disruptive femcare brand TOTM.
Its founders, Anna Lewis and Becky King, were tasked with creating new packaging for the organic sanitary brand for its Tesco product launch – the first time that TOTM products would appear on shelves around the country.
The brief was to design a range of packaging that would immediately express the organic properties of the product, as well as representing the bold and gutsy personality of the brand.
The result was vibrant, eye-catching packaging which had stand-out shelf appeal – and judges applauded its ‘really amazing design with fabulous messaging’ – picking them as winner against national household name opposition which included Wahaca, Waitrose and Cooks & Co.
TOTM products are already stocked in Tesco stores around the country, as well as Urban Outfitters and will soon be heading to high street retailer Superdrug. They are also available online.
Anna Lewis said of the win: “We are so delighted to win this award. We love working with purpose-driven brands that aim to do good in the world.
“Our aim with TOTM was to challenge conventional stereotypes of what an organic brand should look like, and find new, bolder ways to communicate the organic story. To do this, we developed a series of striking designs, inspired by shapes and patterns found in nature. We also introduced large statements on the front of pack, saying ‘I AM ORGANIC’, which not only communicates the unique properties of the product but also reflects the mindset of the consumer. The TOTM customer can be proud to ‘be’ organic.”
Anna continued: “A key part of our brief was to find a way for the packaging to drive new online dialogue between TOTM and its customers. We needed to start new conversations, engage new customers and increase awareness of the brand. Our aim was to create the most Instagrammable femcare brand in the world; intentionally bold, different and suited to social sharing. In a culture where people want to share their ethical standpoint and champion causes they believe in – this packaging was designed to help them do just that.
“We’re always excited by brands that have a strong ethical stance and a powerful story to tell. We work with our clients to deconstruct their story and express it as clearly as possible through design.”
Branding and marketing agency Marsden/Mee was set up by Anna and Becky in 2016 and has worked across many sectors, with a client list that includes Abergavenny Fine Foods, Hodge Bank, Bouygues UK, Pembrokeshire Beach Foods and CBeebies show Tee & Mo.
Anna and Becky met whilst at school together in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, remained friends through university, started careers in marketing and design, working with brands such as the BBC, Visit Wales, PHS, Addis and Panasonic, and were eventually employed together at the same branding agency in Cardiff.
They left that agency to set up Marsden/Mee, which helps brands to grow through deep strategic thinking, market analysis and intelligent design.
