Bread is associated with life itself. In the Russian mind bread symbolizes the source of strength and energy, noble work, and the bringing-together of people. In Slavic tradition, it is believed that good luck and health depend directly on how a person relates to bread.

CORUNA successfully completed a large-scale rebranding project for the Kaliningrad-based bakery-products factory “Russkij Kleb (Russian Bread).” Our work included a strategic analysis, development of brand positioning, creating an identification concept for assortment structures, package design, and elements of corporate identity.

In Russia, there has historically been a tradition of consumers buying products made by large bakery plants. Based on the results of the analytical stage, we chose to create a strong monobrand. As part of the overall brand strategy, a stake was placed in strengthening existing positioning and development in new areas: technological innovation in production and the expansion of retail chains.

Our team was tasked with implementing brand repositioning in such a way that maintained Russkij Kleb’s philosophy on bread while allowing the brand to become attractive, modern and competitive. Our work was to create an identification system that would allow the brand to stand out and be recognizable among both domestic and foreign products. Russia’s entry into the WTO in August 2012 affirmed the pertinence of this strategy.

The brand platform was based on the idea of supporting and enriching bread culture, which in Kaliningrad is balanced between Russian and European baking traditions. In caring for its customers every day, Russkij Kleb holds a high level of responsibility for the health and emotional well being of entire families. It’s a brand that knows how to bake bread the right way. Russkij Kleb is a company that strives to deliver its own warm-heartedness with every slice of bread it produces. These positions, embodied at the conceptual stage, became the basis for establishing the brand’s visual image.

As a basic element of brand identity we developed an original logo—a stylized ear of wheat—that embodies Russian grain traditions. The color scheme matches the color of freshly-baked bread associated with a warm Russian oven. The gradient expresses the process of preparing bread and the browning of the crust. We used this unified concept in developing package design as well as the company’s corporate identity, fostering the formation of a powerful brand identity system.

The catchphrase we developed embodies the idea of care: it’s about quality, taste, and the customer. “Pechetsya o kazhdom! (Sustaining Everyone!)” In Russian the phrase’s double meaning grabs attention (the word pechetsya means both to bake and to care for), and its rhythmic structure facilitates rapid memorization.

The Russian market is now developing along the lines of micro-segmentation and product innovation, and consumers are becoming ever more discerning. We developed a multi-leveled assortment matrix to make it easier for customers to differentiate between individual products and entire product lines as well. Navigating assortments has taken on an intuitive character, and now each consumer can easily find the bread that complements their preferences, passions and lifestyle.