Aunt Sally’s Pralines: Repackaging a New Orleans Icon

Since 1935, Aunt Sally’s Creole Pralines has cooked up and hand-poured their original family praline recipe. Even 85 years ago, Aunt Sally’s was known as a one-stop-shop for their classic confections as well as their local gifts. Over the years, the brand has grown and introduced many new products, including their famous creamy pralines, coated pecans, and more. And with the years passing, like any retailer, it went through a number of logo and packaging iterations. 

But traditional praline buyers and loyalists are getting older, and the brand needed to evolve for a morphing demographic. It became evident to stakeholders that the brand was confusing and didn’t resonate with a younger audience; the flavors and styles between products were difficult to distinguish and the packaging was difficult to read on the shelf. And it was getting increasingly difficult to compete in a changing market replete with many other options for fun and upscale sweets and treats. Aunt Sally’s has always been a luxury product, and it was time to feel like one.

Rolled out in Q4 of 2019 and in anticipation of this holiday season, we orchestrated the launch of a complete Aunt Sally’s brand rejuvenation, including a new brand identity, packaging across all products, and updated storefronts and point of sale. The result: a vibrant new look that will carry Aunt Sally’s into the future as not just New Orleans’, but America’s, favorite praline.

So how do you repackage an icon? 

Well, carefully. We began by examining the narrative surrounding the brand; what made Aunt Sally’s so special and what resonates with this younger demographic? No one sits down and eats 5 pralines at a time; they are rich, decadent treats that are enjoyed slowly and savored. They make you slow down and appreciate its unique flavor, texture and recipe. We considered new language that emphasized the craft that goes into these pralines; the very things that make it a luxury product. We began with changing the brand’s name to “Aunt Sally’s Creole Pralines”, paying tribute to the unique culture from which the traditional family recipe emerged. “Handmade in New Orleans” reinforced the care that goes into every candy; and “Since 1935” emphasized the long-standing authority Aunt Sally’s has on making traditional New Orleans pralines. 

We used focus group research to inform decisions about the logo and packaging, which laid the groundwork for the rest of the brand implementation. For the new mark, we wanted to honor everything that makes a vintage brand authentic, while making it more clean and modernized. We stripped the logo down to the essentials of what makes it likable, including its oval shape and banners. For increased legibility, we simplified the color palette, continuing to use bright red and yellow colors, but slightly altering them and placing them on top of a cream background.

When creating the new packaging, we ensured that each flavor and style of praline and pecan now has a distinctive look that is easy for customers to distinguish across all displays. Because there are several styles of praline (classic, creamy & chewy), the boxes finally got a picture of what the each looked like, aiding the buyer in distinguishing between the products. A visual of the storefront pays homage to its iconic flagship location in the Colonnade at the French Market, reinforcing Aunt Sally’s as an important stop for anyone visiting New Orleans. 

We updated the signage of Aunt Sally’s storefront both on Decatur and St. Charles. The St. Charles store is in a newly renovated building on a tree-lined more residential street, so we gave the signage a slightly more modern and clean look, and included fun and whimsical large pralines to draw people in. The Decatur storefront is in the historic French Quarter, so we went with a more timeless and classic feel that carried across its bays. 

We optimized and improved Aunt Sally’s Shopify e-comm website, putting the best face of these decadent pralines at your fingertips. The site now showcases the new drool-worthy packaging, and is easier to navigate, making ordering pralines to your doorstep efficient and simply irresistible.

Last but not least, one of our favorite parts of the rebrand was creating the praline-mobile delivery van. Aunt Sally’s pralines literally make you happier, so this truck had to deliver the happiness! Considering they can hardly keep these little cuties on the shelves at the New Orleans International Airport, you may spot it making frequent runs to and fro, and we hope it makes you smile too.

It has been a sweet and exciting experience to make Aunt Sally’s products look as luxurious and decadent as they taste!

Follow the sweetness of Aunt Sally’s Creole Pralines on Instagram: @bestpralines

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