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REAL-WORLD StratigoNow IMPACT STORY

Brand Collateral / Production & Execution

Company / Organization

A premium European-style bakery and café brand

Location

Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Industry / Sector

Artisanal bakery & café - offering breads, pastries, coffee, plated desserts, celebration cakes, gift hampers, and seasonal limited-edition products.

The bakery had strong culinary capability and a loyal neighborhood following, but its brand experience collapsed the moment it left the counter. The packaging looked mismatched, the menus varied from outlet to outlet, the delivery boxes did not protect premium pastries, and the visual identity had become a patchwork of designs created by different freelancers over the years. Seasonal products launched with enthusiasm but looked like disconnected mini-brands with no consistency.

In-store collaterals competed with each other rather than reinforcing the brand, and high product budgets were being wasted on poorly coordinated material. Customers loved the food but never perceived the brand as “premium” because the brand touchpoints looked disjointed. The business was leaking perception value every day.

The promoter believed the problem was merely aesthetic - that “everything just needed to look nicer.” He saw collateral as an afterthought, not a strategic asset. He also underestimated the impact of inconsistent execution: different print vendors, different digital designers, inconsistent file standards, and constant last-minute rush jobs. He assumed design upgrades would fix the issue, without realising the brand needed a complete production and execution ecosystem that could scale across multiple outlets.

60 days

StratigoNow began by conducting a full audit of every touchpoint - packaging, menus, in-store signages, shelf talkers, delivery kits, social templates, festive collaterals, and the brand’s digital presence. What emerged was a collage, not a brand.

We designed a unified collateral language that tied every element back to the bakery’s identity. Instead of creating more designs, we created a system: a color logic, typography logic, photographic style, layout hierarchy, and design DNA that worked across print, digital, and signage. From a tiny pastry tag to a 20-foot mall hoarding, every piece of communication now shared the same voice.

Production was re-engineered. We built vendor guidelines, print specifications, prototyping processes, and a master deployment sequence for new collections and seasonal launches. The bakery stopped making frantic last-minute collateral orders and began working with a predictable monthly collateral calendar - from Valentine’s specials and Christmas hampers to monsoon menus and travel dessert boxes.

Packaging was redesigned not only for beauty but for structure, durability, and delivery feasibility. Cake boxes became sturdier, pastry boxes protected delicate items during transport, and gift hampers were redesigned into modular systems to control cost and improve assembly speed. For digital touchpoints, we created a library of templates that the team could use without diluting the brand’s visual discipline.

The entire collateral ecosystem became coherent, practical, premium, and production-friendly - not dependent on mood swings of designers or guesswork by print vendors.

Within weeks, customers began responding to the renewed premium-ness of the brand. Sales of gift hampers increased because the packaging finally matched the price. Delivery complaints reduced sharply as box engineering improved. Seasonal launches achieved higher traction because execution became consistent, timely, and visually powerful. The brand’s perceived value rose dramatically, allowing the bakery to command better margins without raising prices significantly.

Most importantly, the promoter finally understood that collateral is not decoration - it is branding in its most physical form. The bakery now runs on a predictable, scalable collateral production system that ensures every touchpoint reinforces the brand’s identity, not weakens it.