Project
Ole & Steen
Taking Denmark’s favourite bakery to London, New York and beyond
“It’s a true pleasure working with an agency that quickly gets where you’re coming from, has great collaboration skills and succeeds in translating insights into a clear, inspirational strategy.”
Group Head of Brand Marketing
Ole & Steen
Ole & Steen
Services
Strategy
Branding
Product Design
Packaging
Photography
Environmental Design
Digital Design
A dough like no other
Lagkagehuset is Denmark’s most famous bakery, serving the Danes the tastiest of breads each and every morning for over 30 years. With ambitious plans to grow the business across the globe they not only needed a new name that people could pronounce, but an updated customer experience that would work in London, New York and beyond.
Otherway was commissioned to research the growth opportunity and create a new brand from the core of Lagkagehuset, that would be able to live on a global stage. And so Ole & Steen was born.
In 1991, two Danish bakers set out on a similar journey. Inspired by the baking traditions of their country, they wanted to change the way traditional bakeries operated. Ole Kristofferson opened his shop in Chrsitianshavn, Copenhagen, while Steen Skallebæk opened his roughly 2 hours west in the town of Haderslev.
By 2008, they had both earned a loyal following of hungry fans and decided to join forces under the name of Lagkagehuset. Named after the original building they launched in Copenhagen, which looked like a 'layer cake'. They went on to create a family of shops across Denmark that quickly became renowned as go-to, unrivalled bakery.
After a series of workshops across Denmark and London with employees and food influencers, Ole & Steen was chosen as the global brand name – directly calling out the founders story and authenticity.
Both Ole and Steen came from humble roots in local communities where everyone was a neighbour. We went on to apply this same attitude across the global brand, wherever their new neighbours may be.
Working closely with team, we uncovered and defined the purpose and values. Helping them reach a new audience, we distilled the brand down to a simple truth: the celebration of simple things, made well.
Influenced by Danish design principles, we built a new vision for what a bakery could look and feel like. Working with Nootype Foundry in Switzerland to create a custom logotype, based off Radikal, with unique geometric sans-serif touches. This was developed out to create a full brand font, allowing for touches of Danish language to come through in the brand voice.
As a signpost to be used on every store front and placed on every product as a symbol of the hand-crafted quality, we developed a unique twist on the Danish bakery kringle symbol to be used as the brand marque.
To bring warmth and personality to the brand world against the pared back simplicity of the branding, we worked with illustrator Luis Mendo to bring the humanity and social moments to life.
Describing his work as ‘digital analog’, the term alludes to its inherent tactile nature and warmth. His images evoke positivity and exude a cheerful nature.
After launching in St James London in 2016, we went on to influence every part of the brand experience. From interiors to packaging and art direction to digital - growing the new brand across London and launching in New York, as well as defining an employee engagement programme to inspire the next generation of bakers.
After five years of successful growth, Ole & Steen had grown to become more directional than the original, Lagkagehuset parent brand. And so in 2021 we combined a new global strategy to bring the best of Ole & Steen back to Denmark.
Work
