Finding common ground with James Cropper

James Cropper is an AIM-listed company that’s been based in England’s Lake District since 1845. Renowned for its paper-making, in recent decades they have also innovated and expanded their expertise into new markets, forming three distinct businesses within the group:

• Colourform – luxury moulded pulp packaging
• Technical Fibre Products (TFP) – technical non-wovens,
• TFPH – components for green hydrogen electrolysis

All were siloed and had seemingly little in common. But, the Group was at a juncture, setting a future direction that was less based in its past and wanted to get clear – strategically and architecturally – on the brand.
To achieve a consensus, we knew we needed to listen and learn from every perspective to validate any recommendation. We immersed ourselves in each of its businesses, conducting Spark workshops to gather insight from their teams, key stakeholders and also their customers. In addition, we formed a cross-marketing teams group to encourage collaboration and co-creation, building in a sense of ownership.

Our discovery revealed that:

• The core brand was almost wholly associated with paper-making when the offer and expertise was much wider
• Communications were not leveraging the emotional reasons ‘why’ customers chose them.
• A lack of coherence had resulted in a disjointed array of visual brand identities and product names creating a muddling and confusing experience for customers
• Owing to the disparate divisions and names, each part was doing little to leverage the profile and reputation of the others

Overall, we found an overly complex infrastructure for a company of its size that had created siloed ways of working and a burden on its marketing budgets. We strongly felt there was a clear opportunity to simplify and take a more holistic approach with a shift to a unified “branded house”.

To support that, they needed a unifying brand strategy. And our discovery phase had revealed a powerful synergy – there was an authenticity and strength in depth, as well as a shared commitment to people and the planet, that was not just lip service.

We identified four key building blocks for the brand: Innovation, Market-leading experience, Long-term sustainable focus, and History of know-how and stewardship. These aligned to the company’s recently iterated purpose and values.

However, we also wanted to combine these high functional aspects with the deeper emotional drivers and pride that we’d learnt united its people – evident on the ground everyday. This sparked a strategic leap that led to the creation of an actionable and single-minded brand essence: Making a Material Difference.

This brought everything together in a powerful way, providing the clarity needed, and rallying people behind it. Three differentiated brand pillars – Constant Curiosity, For the Long Term and Very Best Products underpinned this with ‘ownable’ proof points that would be deliverable across the group.

With the strategy approved, we stepped into the co-creation of a unified brand architecture model and logic. By engaging with multiple customers across the Group’s functions, we gained valuable insights and a deeper understanding of their needs. The goal was co-create a solution with the team that prioritised the customer experience and would align with their markets, codes and industry language.

This resulted in all its businesses adopting the single brand name of James Cropper, capitalising on the brand’s credibility and heritage. The Group’s products and services were then reorganised into two categories – Paper & Packaging and Advanced Materials – providing clarity for customers while reinforcing the brand’s core strengths.

This simplified brand architecture also provides the Group with breath and scope for growth as they continue to innovate for the future.

The reorganisation of the brand model and name, with its unified brand strategy was announced to the markets in 2023.