Craft Festive Feasts with Smith &+ Village's Christmas Booths Book

This Christmas, the family-owned, independent food and wine retailer Booths has launched its second ‘Christmas Book’, a 200 page collection of their best quality products available for purchase in-store, and, for the first time in the brand’s history, for delivery nationwide.  In addition to the products available for purchase, the book, (which Booths is giving away to customers for free) includes a range of festive recipes and advice for those entertaining friends and family over the Christmas period.

The Christmas Book, created by branding consultancy Smith &+ Village, has been developed to help position Booths as a national Christmas brand.  Inspired by The Twelve Days Of Christmas, the entire narrative of this year’s book has been developed to inspire customers to plan ahead and order early – whether they intend to cook from scratch, or have all they need ready-prepared and delivered.

Richard Village, Founding Partner, Strategy Director, Smith &+ Village, said, ‘The 2013 Christmas Book achieved fantastic sales results for Booths, so expectations were even higher this year.  In response to customer feedback about last year’s book, our concept for 2014 took a much more editorial approach by grouping all the delicious products into clearer shopping ‘missions’.  We’ve organised the book around the central events that make up the Christmas period, giving customers fantastic solutions for their entertaining needs for each one’.

The look and feel of the Christmas Book has been developed to reflect Booths’ brand promise as champions of the very best, regional, seasonal food.  Photographed by Craig Robertson, with home economy by Angela Boggiano, the imagery captures the warmth and ‘home-made-ness’ of the products, while staying true to their premium quality.  The front cover, designed in collaboration with Coralie Bickford-Smith, is made from luxurious canvas and the art-deco design further elevates the book from a dispensable Christmas catalogue, to something special to keep forever.

Debrah Smith, Founding Partner & Creative Director, Smith &+ Village, said, ‘For those that love to cook and to eat, Christmas is all about amazing food. Having a tangible, beautifully tactile book to leaf through and immerse themselves in, gives customers a real reason to not only engage with the fantastic food on offer at Booths, but also with the brand itself, in a way that’s just not possible in the digital space.’

Smith &+ Village was appointed by Booths in 2011 to help them refresh the corporate identity for the launch of their Media City UK store.  Since then, the agency has taken the creative philosophy behind that initial project and applied it across the Booths business: the creation of own label, the introduction of a loyalty card, the development of new and existing stores and (capitalising on the Christmas trading spike) the launch of The Booths Christmas Book.  

As a result, Booths has beaten its business objectives to grow sales, profits and awareness (3% increase in sales since 2011), and Smith &+ Village has been shortlisted for a prestigious Design Effectiveness Awards early in 2015.

Chris Dee, Chief Operating Officer, EH Booth & Co. Ltd. said, ‘I can honestly say that the 2014 Christmas Book is the most effective piece of customer communications that Booths has ever produced in its 167 year history. The work Smith &+ Village has developed has transformed how customers see us at Christmas, and has successfully launched us on a national scale.’