Mousline is unveiling a new brand strategy and overhauled pack design by Marks, reviving the category using the brand’s established identity and positioning mashed potato as the versatile, indulgent and healthy culinary choice for contemporary home cooks.

As a pantry staple that has been enjoyed in France for more than 60 years, Mousline needed a strategy that would rejuvenate its brand for a wider and more diverse contemporary audience, while retaining the brand’s iconicity.

Defining a new story

Deep exploration of the carbohydrate category showed that mashed potato was associated with quick and easy functional cooking methods, historically favoured by traditional, nuclear families. To compete with carbohydrate staples such as pasta and rice – synonymous with creative cuisine – as well as new plant-based challenger brands, Mousline needed to define its own story and act as a category leader.

For the revived brand identity, Marks leant into Mousline’s heritage, combining its iconic design roots with modern, bolder graphic elements. The new logo, for example, stays true to the original while being updated with a rounded typography. The result is a simple, clean look and feel that conveys movement.

The new, more impactful pack design also features photographic assets that tell the authentic story of Mousline as a clean and indulgent yet still approachable plant-based product, produced 100% locally. Addressing misperceptions of Mousline as a processed product, Marks used imagery of dishes featuring fresh ingredients to bring through Mousline’s natural credentials.

Inspiring culinary creativity

The renewed brand focus aims to inspire modern families with culinary exploration through tasty recipes, supported by sustainability and health credentials. Encouraging consumers to personalise their culinary creations aligns with the overarching brand vision: “To each their Mousline”. The revamped pack architecture allows for facilitated navigation across a range of 19 SKUs, further supporting the promise of creative personalisation of a staple dish.

Christophe Morcant, Creative Director at Marks, says: “Mousline gave us the irresistible brief of restoring a true French cultural icon to its former glory, while conveying its rightful position in modern kitchens by updating the overall category. Early-stage collaboration with Marks’ London studio added a fresh perspective to our local knowledge in the Paris office. Together we arrived at a bold strategic territory that successfully retains Mousline’s longstanding brand DNA while rejuvenating for a new era of home cooking.”

Nicolas Frisch, Mousline’s Marketing Director, says: “Rejuvenating a classic with respect, sensitivity and courage is the pinnacle of branding and design. We chose Marks as a strategic and creative force with local knowledge and global muscle, all of which gave us the confidence to go in this bold direction.”

The new brand is being introduced in France in March 2024, supported by a cross media campaign, with plans to relaunch the new Mousline brand out in other Benelux regions including The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain in the coming months.

Previously owned by Nestlé, Mousline was sold to FnB Private Equity in 2022.