Lyle’s Golden Syrup has announced a rebrand, rolling out across the UK. The new design aims to unify Lyle’s product range with new branding and a contemporary logo, marking the first full logo change and redesign for Lyle’s since its inception in the 19th century.ÌýÌýÌý
The rebrand will take place across the full product range, excluding the classic Lyle’s Golden Syrup tin which will retain its heritage packaging featuring a 19th-century illustration of a golden lion. The iconic green tin and golden lion logo holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s oldest unchanged brand packaging, having remained essentially identical since 1883.Ìý
The image of a dead lion being swarmed by bees is to be dropped from the new branding with an image of a lion’s head and a single bee. The original logo includes the biblical quotation “Out of the strong came forth sweetness”.Ìý
Brand director James Whiteley said the firm needed to show consumers it was moving with the times and meeting their current needs. “Our fresh, contemporary design brings Lyle’s into the modern day, appealing to the everyday British household while still feeling nostalgic and authentically Lyle’s,” he said.Ìý
Helen Edwards, adjunct associate professor of marketing at London Business School, said the rebrand would help to reduce the risk of excluding potential buyers.Ìý “The story of it coming from religious belief could put the brand in an exclusionary space, especially if it was to go viral on X or TikTok. But hanging on to some of the original branding is a good idea as people tend to remember brands through visual codes – the green colour, the lion – which remind people ‘that’s the product I buy, that’s the one I like.'”Ìý
This is interesting and unique. Not many brands could claim to be as closely aligned to their original Victorian identity as Lyle’s Golden Syrup. Whilst we suspect ‘modernising’ the brand has been a recurring point of discussion through the years, the decision to change the design must have been a seismic one. Brands take few bigger risks than undertaking major identity changes. Shoppers’ system 1 brains use symbols, shape and colour to short circuit their in-store choices. So, change, especially in a category that most consumers only buy occasionally, is not something to do lightly. Which is why the best brands regularly evolve and finesse their packaging identity to keep it relevant, but not so consumers immediately notice. We agree with @helen edwards… Lyle’s Golden Syrup had reached a point where the identity was potentially problematic and certainly not of our times. The new design has attempted to keep key elements and create a more accessible offer that aligns more closely with the current category codes. Keeping the original design on the classic tin was a good decision, even if it breaks the rules of matching luggage. This is not a typical scenario so it will be fascinating to see how it plays out.