Coley Porter Bell has been appointed to modernise a raft of Russian confectionery brands under the banner of Soviet-era manufacturer Krupskaya.

You will recall, of course, that Nadežda Konstantinovna Krupskaya was the wife of revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin. They married in 1898. When she died in 1939 the workforce petitioned Sovnarcom, the Council of People’s commissars, and asked if it would be possible to immortalise her by naming the factory after her.

The project which includes updating the brand logo, involves developing new pack designs for Troika chocolate and crushed nuts bar, Petersburg Nights chocolate bar range, and Summer Gardens boxed assortment.

The brief also extends to revamping the identity of the Pekar (‘Baker’) brand, a range of cakes and wafers recently acquired by Krupskaya. Pekar was established in 1913 before the Russian Revolution of 1917, but it survived the purges, Nazi occupation and the Cold War, to become one of the most popular cake and wafer ranges in Northwest Russia.

Coley Porter Bell’s first task for Krupskaya has been to modernise the packaging of the Troika range. The Krupskaya Griffin logo (the symbol of St Petersburg) has been updated and made more prominent. But it still retains the legend “Factory named after the wife of Lenin”.

The colours of the packaging have also been made stronger and darker, while a more modern representation of the troika (three horses) has been used.

“This is a case of evolution rather than revolutionary change,” said Coley Porter Bell CEO Vicky Bullen. “Packaging redesign always involves striking a delicate balance between keeping the elements that make the brand popular in the first place while making big enough changes for consumers to notice that it has been modernised.”

Explained Krupskaya marketing director Alexey Ostapachenko; “Recently Krupskaya has come under competitive pressure from Western rivals, such as Nestle and Mars, as well as renewed competition from indigenous rivals, such as the Moscow based Red October confectionery brand. Our redesign is aimed at making Kruspskaya better able to cope with these threats, particularly at point of purchase.”

The Russian confectionery market splits into 3 main groups: traditional Russian brands such as Krupskaya, new Russian brands and international brands. Recently both Krupskaya and Pekar have come under pressure on two commercial fronts. Firstly from Western competitors such as Nestle and Mars but also from resurgent local brands such as well as Moscow based United Konditors.

Traditional Russian Brands come mostly from regional factories established in Czarist Russia. Krupskaya’s rivals include:

*Red October (named after the Russian Revolution): Their Alenka brand is very well recognised, using typical soviet imagery of a little Russian girl.

*Babaevskiy: Uses solid, heavy, masculine imagery like big buildings and military men. Colours like brown, dark red and gold give a heavy, serious feel. This style of design is considered to be representative of Moscow.

*Korkunof a very successful new Russian brand. Consumers think of it as ‘modern’, largely because it only launched 10 years ago. Its design is still dark in colour and features traditional painting, embellishment and fonts – albeit used in a slightly more sophisticated way than the old Russian brands.

During the war against the fascists (sic) Leningrad was besieged for 900 days. The Krupskaya factory was reduced to making ersatz chocolate from any ingredients available, and only for front line troops. As the bread ration at the time was only 250 grams per day for working citizens -125g for their dependants, even that kind of chocolate was regarded as a real treat. As a result Krupskaya was recorded in the City Honour Book & became strongly identified as a ‘local hero’ brand in the region.

Said CPB CEO Vicky Bullen: “It is fascinating to think that at the height of his power, just two years away from a cataclysmic war, Soviets were inadvertently creating an indulgence brand.”

“Both Krupskaya and Pekar have survived the test of time to become deeply embedded in the psyches of Russian consumers. Our task is to modernise the brands and packaging without throwing away the equity these brands have built up over the decades.”