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Seabrook Crisps“ ”Bags of Northern Soul" campaign shows how an established product can be repositioned without discarding its history. Seabrook leverages brand heritage and local identity to create new energy around its crisps. The lesson for e-commerce owners is that effective branding is not just about aesthetics, but also about strategy: who we are, who we talk to, why we are remembered. Repositioning is critical to make a brand stand out in a saturated market, offering authenticity and clarity.
The article summarizes the most important points and turns them into practical steps for businesses that want better organic visibility, a cleaner user experience and more reliable content.
The “Bags of Northern Soul” campaign, presented by Design Week and implemented by Quiet Storm for Seabrook Crisps, is an interesting example of how an established product can be repositioned without discarding its history. Seabrook, a brand with British origins and a strong connection to the North of England, did not attempt to wear a foreign, overly premium or impersonal mantle. Instead, the campaign tapped into brand heritage, local identity and a more emotive tone to create new energy around an everyday product: crisps. For an e-commerce owner, the lesson is immediate. Effective branding doesn't just mean a new logo, new colors or more modern graphics. It means clear strategic choice: who we are, who we talk to, why they remember us, and why they have a reason to choose us when faced with dozens of similar options. See also: Digital Marketing & SEO, business automation & AI, website construction, e-shop construction.
This particular case has value beyond the FMCG space. In online stores, especially in categories where products are comparable, such as food, cosmetics, fashion, homeware, supplements or pet products, differentiation is rarely gained by price alone. It is won through brand strategy, a clear brand identity, a consistent visual identity and content that makes the consumer feel that they are buying from a brand with a personality. “Bags of Northern Soul” serves as a reminder that even a low-mix product - one that is purchased quickly and often without much thought - can gain memory, voice and emotional recognition when branding is connected to an authentic story.
The interest lies not only in the creative message, but also in the timing. The market is saturated with brands vying for attention on social media, marketplaces, retail shelves and online search. An e-commerce brand is no longer competing only with direct products in its category. It competes against overall user fatigue, lack of trust, the convenience of marketplaces and the expectations created by big players like Amazon, Zara, Sephora or the big grocery chains. In this environment, branding becomes a commercial tool rather than an aesthetic exercise.
Brand repositioning is the process by which a brand redefines its position in the minds of the public. It is not necessarily rebranding in the strict sense of a complete identity change. It can be about the way it speaks, the audience it prioritises, the promise it projects, the packaging, the experience on the site, the content of product pages or how it appears in performance campaigns. In Seabrook's case, the emphasis on the northern identity and character of the brand shows an attempt to create a clearer and more distinctive meaning around the product. For an online store, this logic translates to a simple question: if we removed your logo from the site, packaging, emails and social posts, would the customer be able to tell it was you?;
The answer to this question is often uncomfortable. Many e-commerce brands operate with similar templates, similar product photos, similar offers and similar phrases such as “premium quality”, “fast shipping” or “the best prices”. These elements may be useful, but they are not enough to build brand trust. When consumers see ten nearly identical eshops, they will compare in terms of price, availability and convenience. But when they see a brand that has a specific voice, a clear aesthetic, an authentic story and a consistent experience, the comparison shifts from “who is cheaper” to “who is the best fit for me”. This is exactly where branding creates real margin.
Data on online shopper behaviour shows that trust and perception of value directly influence conversion. According to the Baymard Institute, the average cart abandonment rate in e-commerce environments remains very high, with the most important reasons including additional costs, mandatory account creation, concerns about payment security, slow delivery and unsatisfactory returns policies. These are not just operational issues. They are brand touch points. If the brand hasn't built trust before checkout, every little doubt becomes a reason to leave.
As shown in the graph below, the reasons for abandoning a basket are not limited to price. They include factors of trust, experience and perceived trustworthiness - areas where branding and UX work directly together.
Main reasons for cart abandonment in e-commerce
Source: Baymard Institute, Cart Abandonment Research
The Seabrook campaign is particularly important because it concerns a product where packaging design is crucial. On the physical shelf, the packaging has to catch the eye within seconds. In e-commerce, the product packaging logic carries over to thumbnails, packshots, product cards, social ads, videos, unboxing and user-generated content. The product is not just on a shelf. It's on a mobile screen, on a carousel, in a marketplace listing, in an email or in a TikTok video. If the packaging isn't recognizably small, if the colors aren't proprietary, if the message isn't simple, the brand loses attention before the user even reads the description.
Seabrook utilizes the concept of “Northern Soul” not as a mere decorative reference, but as a connective tissue between product, origin and emotion. This is important for any brand that sells online. Consumers don't experience your business only through the product. They experience it through the product image, page details, photography, colors, micro-texting, reviews, confirmation email, home delivery packaging and the return experience. Omnichannel marketing doesn't just mean a presence across multiple channels. It means that the same brand meaning travels without being altered.
Research by Ipsos for the Paper and Packaging Board has shown that 72% of US consumers agree that packaging design often influences the purchase decision, while 67% say that packaging materials influence the decision. While the data is for the US market, the direction is useful for any e-commerce business: packaging is not a cost that starts after the sale. It's part of the sale, especially when it reinforces the perception of quality, consistency and trust.
The graph below illustrates two key packaging factors that influence the purchase decision, according to the Ipsos survey.
Impact of packaging on the purchase decision
Source: Ipsos / Paper and Packaging Board, Packaging Matters
For e-commerce owners, this means that investing in visual identity and packaging should not only be evaluated as “nice design”. It should be evaluated as a conversion asset. A clean packshot increases comprehension. A recognizable color palette increases memory. A clear front-of-pack message reduces uncertainty. A consistent unboxing experience enhances the likelihood of repurchase and social sharing. Even in categories where packaging seems secondary, such as spare parts, tools, B2B consumables or electronic accessories, a professional presentation can differentiate a brand from generic suppliers.
Step 1: Diagnose your current location. Start with an audit of all key touch points: homepage, product pages, category pages, ads, newsletters, social media, marketplace listings, packaging, customer support scripts and after-sales emails. Record what you are currently promising, what visual elements are repeated, what words you use most often and what elements really differentiate you. If the message changes from channel to channel, the problem isn't just creative. It's strategic.
Step 2: Define the commercial problem that Branding needs to solve. We don't do brand repositioning because we are “tired” of the old image. We do it because there is a specific need: low brand awareness, pressure from cheaper competitors, low repeat purchase, weak conversion, entering a new category, changing audience or need for premiumization. Seabrook, according to the campaign analysis in Design Week, did not choose an abstract creative direction. It chose to build on something that has real relevance to the brand: its northern identity and character.
Step 3: Find your original property. Every brand needs a space it can defend. It can be local production, expertise, speed, scientific documentation, sustainability, handmade, community, aesthetics or honest value for money. The important thing is not to build on something that anyone could say. Brand storytelling should be grounded in real data, not made-up claims.
Step 4: Translate the strategy into practical assets. A repositioning should appear in specific areas: hero message, tagline, product naming, category filters, photo style, packaging, icons, tone of voice, email flows, ad copy and product descriptions. If the new strategy stays in a brand deck, it won't change the market. Branding works when it becomes a daily experience.
Step 5: Test before you expand. In an e-commerce environment, change can be measured more quickly than in physical retail. Run A/B tests on hero sections, product page modules, ad creatives and email subject lines. Compare conversion rate, add-to-cart rate, click-through rate, average order value, repeat purchase and branded search. If the new message increases engagement but decreases conversion, it needs improvement. If it increases conversion but doesn't build memory, it might just be a good offer and not a real brand asset.
Step 6: Connect repositioning with content marketing. Content is the mechanism that educates the market on your new niche. Create guides, behind-the-scenes material, landing pages, short videos, comparison pages, email series and social proof that explain why your new niche has value. For example, if your brand is repositioning around durability, show durability tests, real-world uses and customer reviews. If it's repositioning around localism, show people, places and process.
Branding is often misunderstood as something that cannot be measured. In reality, it's not always measured with the same immediacy of a Google Ads campaign, but it leaves a clear trail in the data. A successful brand repositioning must improve both “hard” metrics and “soft” signals. Hard metrics include conversion rate, repeat purchase rate, customer lifetime value, average order value, direct traffic, branded searches and reduced reliance on discount campaigns. Soft signals include increased mentions, quality of reviews, visual code awareness, organic content sharing and the ease with which customers describe what the brand stands for.
For practical application, an e-commerce owner can create a dashboard before and after repositioning. In the first month, track CTR on campaigns and engagement on content. At three months, compare add-to-cart, conversion and branded search. At six months, look at repeat purchase, subscription rate, customer support sentiment and share of revenue from direct or email channels. At twelve months, evaluate whether the brand can maintain prices without permanent reliance on discounts. The marketing strategy must translate the creative idea into commercial performance.
Especially for brands operating in marketplaces, repositioning needs double reading. On the one hand, it must comply with the platform's rules. On the other, it must retain enough ownership that the customer remembers the brand and not just the marketplace. This means better images, consistent naming, enhanced product descriptions, A+ content where possible, clear benefits and strong post-purchase follow-up. E-commerce branding doesn't end at customer acquisition. It starts there.
The most useful conclusion from “Bags of Northern Soul” is that a brand doesn't have to become something else to become interesting again. It often needs to remember what makes it recognizable and express it more confidently. Seabrook shows that locality, history and simplicity can become modern brand assets when translated into a pure creative system. This is also true for a Greek e-commerce brand selling natural cosmetics from Crete, handmade furniture from Thessaly, premium food from small producers or technical equipment with specialized support.
Branding that delivers doesn't try to please everyone. It chooses. It chooses audience, style, promise, aesthetic and experience. A brand that chooses clearly also helps consumers choose more quickly. In markets with rising customer acquisition costs, pressure on margins and intense competition from marketplaces, this purity is not a luxury. It is a defense against commoditization.
For TWO DOTS, the strategic value of such examples is that they remind us that design, performance, content and technology should not operate in isolation. A repositioning doesn't succeed because a beautiful key visual was created. It succeeds when the message is displayed on the site, packaging, ads, SEO content, email automations, checkout and service. That's where branding stops being a campaign and becomes a business advantage.
If you're an e-commerce owner and you're considering a rebrand, start before the design. Start with your niche in the marketplace. Ask what the customer should remember five minutes after they leave your site. Ask what they would tell a friend about you without looking at the logo. Ask why they should return, not just why they should buy today. The answers to these questions are the basis for branding that not only embellishes the business, but makes it more competitive.
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Branding refers to the creation of a unique identity for a brand that differentiates it from competitors. For e-commerce brands, branding is critical as it determines how consumers perceive the product and influences their trust and choice.
Brand repositioning allows online stores to redefine their market position and adapt to changing consumer needs. It helps to differentiate from competitors and builds awareness and trust.
A strong brand identity is created through a clear strategy, consistent visual and verbal identity and authentic storytelling. The identity should reflect the brand's values and mission, making it recognisable and trustworthy.
Packaging in e-commerce influences consumers' first impression and purchase decision. It must be recognisable, functional and reinforce the perception of quality and brand consistency.
The key steps include diagnosing the current position, defining the commercial problems, finding genuine ownership, translating the strategy into practical assets and testing before full implementation.
The success of the new branding is measured through conversion rate, repeat purchase rate, awareness and value perception. Also observed are changes in branded searches and quality of reviews.
Branding strategy influences the customer experience by creating a consistent and recognisable experience across all touchpoints. It builds trust and makes the brand more engaging and credible.
