Branding News: Design choice - Innocent 'Supergran' hats

Echoing the audience participation of Blue Peter appeals past, members of the public have individually handknitted more than 200,000 hats, which are currently adorning bottles in EAT cafes and branches of Sainsbury's.

When I went in to pick up a smoothie last week, I was struck by the swathe of colourful hats in the otherwise muted environment of my local EAT. They demanded attention, and I had to fight for the stripey one I had my eye on.

This is the kind of design genius I expect from Innocent: a simple yet visually stunning idea, poles apart from the bottle design, but which somehow fits the brand perfectly and brings the product to life on-shelf. Being handmade, every hat is unique, despite being based on the same pattern. Some are basic bobbles, others feature animals, people and even aliens - you can see some of the star creations on Innocent's website.

The only bad thing about these splendid hats is that they are too tiny for people to wear. The best thing is that Innocent, Sainsbury's and EAT are going to donate 50p to Age Concern for every hatted bottle sold, helping older people keep warm this winter.

Design: In-house.

This article was first published on Marketing