Kettle Chips—a product identity perspective

Charla and I love Kettle Chips—they are an indulgent pre-dinner snack we occasionally treat ourselves to when a long week in the city has pummeled us into submission. Once opened, the whole contents of a large bag invariably disappears within ten crunchy minutes.

Kettle have been the leading premium potato crisp brand in the UK for some years now, but they haven't rested on their laurels one bit: they are always coming out with some new flavour, complete with evocative title and expressively-designed wrapper. The flavours are usually delicious, and when they are less than that, improved versions are often forthcoming pretty quickly. Kettle Chips also strike a friendly yet respectful tone in encouraging customer feedback—I get the strong impression that the company is run by people who are genuinely passionate about creating amazing crisps.

So what's not to like? Well, nothing at all, but I do have a hopeful observation about Kettle's product identity and branding to offer them.

While the titles and wrappers of each flavour are boldly differentiated from one another, the flavours themselves are far less so—while each tastes great, it does so in a way that is far more similar to the other flavours than it is different.

The pack of the Mango Chilli flavour, "Angry Fruit" (pictured above), proclaims: "the chilli takes time to arrive, but when it does you'll know!" Well, not really—the chilli is really very mild. There is a mismatch, a disjunction, between the pack's promise of a wild and challenging tastebud adventure and the actual soothingly familiar and pleasant crisp experience of perfectly crunchy, salt-savoury-with-just-a-hint-of-something-exotic munching. It's a bit like searching for a barely-perceptible note of cinnamon or aniseed in a delectable high-class dark chocolate ganache that is far too refined to shout out its differences from the others in the box.

Kettle, be bold—have the courage of your branding convictions and give us chillies that burn, limes that bite, and mangos that sweeten us! Let the identity of your crisps, so brilliantly captured by your marketing department, shine through the humble potato itself. Take us on the daring crispy escapades you promise us, and you will have (at least two) loyal customers for life.