Sainsbury’s hires 20/20 for redesign

Sainsbury’s has appointed 20/20 Design & Strategy Consultants to head the redesign project it hopes will help it regain lost ground in the supermarket wars.

It was confirmed yesterday (Tuesday) that 20/20 had beaten Rodney Fitch and the Conran Design Group to the business.

It is a huge win for the design company, which will head the project, although it is likely other agencies will also be used. Fitch is known to be carrying out some work for the supermarket.

Brand identity is a key part of Sainsbury’s fightback. In a battle fought on marketing and branding, the chain has lost its lead to Tesco and faces pressure from Asda.

Asda and Safeway, which were planning to merge, would have pushed Sainsbury’s into third place.

Although 20/20 will not confirm its plans, sources say the account involves designing a new brand identity for Sainsbury’s, and creating new interiors for its stores.

“It’s the whole lot. Everything from the brand identity to its baked beans cans,” says one design industry source.

Yaron Meshoulam, head of marketing at 20/20, says: “We are still assessing the overall exercise.”