2. Awards & Education;

Background

Hovis was introduced in 1886, the invention of Richard ‘Stoney’ Smith who found a way of retaining wheatgerm goodness in flour. Originally launched as Smith’s Patent Process Germ Flour, a national competition was launched four years later to find a more catchy name. Hovis was the brainchild of a London student named Herbert Grimes, who shortened the Latin ‘Hominis Vis’, meaning strength of man.

Hovis flour, along with specially embossed Hovis tins was sold to selected high street bakers, who produced and sold Hovis bread onto the public. Hovis provided these bakers with permanent Hovis signs to hang outside their bakery,many of which remain in existence today.

The brand has been a consistent advertiser throughout the last century, with many memorable and much loved adverts including ‘Boy on the Bike’, first aired in 1973 and of course the award winning ‘Go on Lad’ which has very recently be on TV. In addition there have been countless press advertising campaigns, many of which are currently being resurrected and reworked for forthcoming campaigns at a time when the nation’s enthusiasm for nostalgic marketing is high.

Today Hovis remains one of the UK’s best loved brands. Consumers have a lot of nostalgia for the brand and there is an opportunity to capitalise on this and bring our history to life in a real and meaningful way through branded merchandise. A quick scan through the internet suggests there is already a desire for this with eBay listing 149 Hovis merchandise items for sale at the time of writing, including old Hovis embossed bread tins retailing at a whopping £20!

The Creative Challenge

Build on the love for our brand and its heritage by creating a range of branded Hovis merchandise which encapsulate our rich and wonderful past and become ‘must have’ items for today’s households and homes.

Merchandise should have broad appeal and be something someone is proud to display in their home.

• All products must have a natural fit with Hovis (ie, ideally linked to bread, or baking, or our past).
• Whilst a link back to the past is important, merchandise should be relevant to today (one foot in the past, one foot in the present).
• All materials should be of a high quality standard.
• Materials to be sold online through the Hovis website and potentially in selected retailers.

This must be a profit making exercise so merchandise should have:

• Broad enough appeal to make them cost efficient to produce.
• Relatively low Recommended Selling Price (certainly under £20).
• The ability to be posted easily and efficiently.

Build on the love for our brand and its heritage by creating a range of branded Hovis merchandise.

As you will see through your research, Hovis have historically worked with some of the best illustrators and artists of the times to create images to appear in our communications. As such, we are additionally interested in visually driven merchandise ideas that can reference this association in a contemporary fashion. If you are an illustrator and would like to approach this brief in an illustrative fashion then you are welcome to do so.

The Target

Our core audience is housewives of all ages and backgrounds but in particular those with children. Your ideas for merchandise need not be targeted exclusively at them, but they should not be off-putting to this important group.

Mandatories

Hovis tins are an iconic aspect of the Hovis heritage and brand identity. While we believe they have excellent potential for incorporation into merchandise ideas, it is not compulsory that you do so. Traditionally these tins come in three sizes – mini (roll size), 400g (small loaves) and 800g (large loaves). If you wish you can incorporate the Hovis logotype into your work, available in the project pack.

Considerations

• Consider options for creating merchandise from recycled materials (eg, used bread bags).
• Not many brands do merchandising brilliantly – although a few stand out from the rest, including Coca Cola, Dorset Cereals and Guinness. Hovis can do this even more brilliantly!

Our Website

For more info about Hovis see our website at www.hovisbakery.co.uk