Whippet picks up two awards at The Drum Awards for Marketing!

Two trophies. One iconic brand. A project we're immensely proud of

We're thrilled to share that Whippet has been recognised at The Drum Marketing EMEA Awards for our work on the M&S Food brand refresh, taking home honours in both the Design/Brand and Rebrand/Refresh categories.

Building on a legend

M&S Food doesn't need an introduction. For decades it's set the standard for quality, provenance, and the kind of food that genuinely makes people happy. This project was about making sure the brand experience matched that same level of love and craft, bringing everything into closer alignment, from shelf edge to store environment to digital.

The M&S team came to us with real ambition: not to change what makes the brand special, but to sharpen it. To find a single cohesive thread that could connect every touchpoint and make the whole thing feel as considered as the food itself.

The thinking behind it

The creative direction drew on something timeless: the sensory energy of a traditional fresh food market. Abundant, warm, unapologetically food-led. That became the foundation of a design system built around one simple truth: We love food.

From there, every decision flowed naturally:

An ingredient-led colour palette rooted in the kitchen, using tones like mustard, gooseberry, mushroom, and meringue. Bespoke typography inspired by traditional market signage: characterful and warm without losing clarity. Photography that puts the food front and centre, tight, textured, and lit to make everything look its absolute best. And a flexible grid system built to handle the complexity of a major retailer at scale, without stripping away any of the brand's personality.

What Ash said

Whippet's Associate Creative Director, Ashley Hodge, put it well:

“We didn't want to just create a shiny new look. We wanted to build a visual heartbeat for the brand. These awards are a huge validation of that. It proves you can build a highly functional, commercial powerhouse of a system without losing an ounce of the soul, craft, and love that makes M&S Food so iconic.”

Thank you

This award belongs to everyone who worked on it. The M&S Food team were extraordinary partners throughout, bringing trust, creative ambition, and a genuine commitment to getting every detail right. And to the shoppers already experiencing the new brand in store: we hope you love it as much as we do.