Golden Wonder plans assault on Walkers with crisp relaunch blitz

Golden Wonder is relaunching its eponymous crisp range in an assault on rival Walkers Snacks. It will unveil the redesigned range in Scotland in the next two weeks.

Golden Wonder is also understood to have reviewed its list of flavours, which range from traditional salt and vinegar to steak and onion. It will retain the stronger flavours for the Scottish market, but it is thought that some flavours are likely to be scrapped.

The “cartoon-style” new packaging will adhere to Golden Wonder’s original colour-scheme for flavours, such as green for cheese and onion. The relaunch will be supported with aggressive promotional activity and some above-the-line advertising, although this will not include TV spots. It is thought that Golden Wonder will substantially increase its advertising spend on the range.

Golden Wonder appointed J Walter Thompson to handle its advertising earlier this year (MW February 20). The brand has suffered from a lack of investment in recent years, but the company is understood to have earmarked &£25m for advertising across all its ranges, which also include Nik Naks and Wheat Crunchies.

The review was called following the promotion of Kirsty Taylor to marketing director. She replaced Paul Boothman, who left the post after Golden Wonder was bought by Middle Eastern packaged goods company Longulf last August. At the same time, Golden Wonder sold the Wotsits brand to Walkers.