Lea & Perrins Steak Sauce

How does one extend the brand of an iconic staple like Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce? Aw, read on dear blogged, read on...

I had the opportunity recently at Marlin to redesign the existing L&P Steak Sauce bottle (the final is to the right). Now, you might ask yourself, “Steak sauce? I didn’t know Lea & Perrins did a steak sauce?” Well, they do. But they haven’t made great inroads on the category leader, A1. And it’s no wonder. The plastic form factor and bottle dress is apeing grocery store chain's generic packaging big time. And nothing says quality like plastic. Some condiments do fine encased in a synthetic shell, but something that goes on steak…? It must be like drinking champaign from a plastic cup.

To kick off the project, Rob Nelson, AE and account director on Heinz lead us in a product cutting of L&P, A1, and Heinz steak sauces. A1 was the familiar standout, but the L&P tincture surprised us: It was clearly the better steak topper.

The mandatories for the design included parchment, the L&P logotype, the shield, burgundy, and the shape of the label and bottle. Given all this we came up with the expected and several unexpected solutions (my favorite is highlighted as the bigger bottle up top).

We were striving to make the new bottle family with the familiar worcestershire sauce bottle without creating confusion with consumers. In the end, though the design isn’t a compelling re-introduction of the sauce, the final bottle feels like an old friend. Which is to say, it’s been around forever, just misplaced and forgotten in the back of the refrigerator’s throng of condiments.