In our experience working with marketers across the fresh produce space, committing to a rebrand is one of the most difficult decisions for a company to make. There is typically a lot of nostalgia around logos and sometimes even an added layer of family history that creates emotional attachment to ‘what has been’. We admire companies who take the leap, no matter how big or small, when they realize it’s time to update and refresh their brand presence to improve their relevance in the marketplace.
As we mentioned in our last post on website launches around Fresh Summit, this particular show creates a fantastic forum for gaining significant awareness around a rebrand. We scoured trade publications to identify brands that did just that – leverage marketing around Fresh Summit to get maximum eyes on their new logo and coordinating marketing assets. Here are some great examples that we found:
North Shore Living Herbs + Greens
North Shore Living Herbs changed their name to North Shore Living and rolled out a clean, modern new logo that emphasizes the fact that the company specializes in selling products that are still alive and with their roots attached.
In their news release, marketing manager Chris Wada said, “The timing of PMA accelerated the debut of our rebrand to the trade by a couple of months. This now gives us more time to talk with retailers about their individual needs and create a custom merchandising, promotion and social content plan for our consumer launch starting in January.”
On their new website, North Shore cleverly provides a side-by-side comparison to make sure customers and consumers alike can make the correlation between their old and revamped look.
Litehouse, Inc.
https://www.litehousefoods.com/
Litehouse is another company that aligned their brand refresh announcement with Fresh Summit for a large scale unveiling to their trade audience. Along with a modernized logo, Litehouse showcased a new packaging design for their dips and dressings that reflect the preferences identified in their consumer research. The new labels also include the new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nutrition facts panel as well as clear nutritional claims.
Ambrosia Apples
BC Tree Fruits Cooperative recently introduced their new Ambrosia apple brand with the aim of giving an apple variety with growing popularity a unique identity. While the company has not added the new branding to their online presence, they did take advantage of Fresh Summit by showcasing the new design on the showfloor.
Vidalia Onion Committee
During Fresh Summit, The Vidalia Onion Committee launched a preview of their 2018 marketing campaign that features a refreshed logo, symbolic of their artisanal approach to onion farming.
Bob Stafford, the VOC’s interim executive director shared these thoughts with the committee’s announcement, “We think the new logo captures the proud history of Vidalia onions that have been handcrafted by generations of grower artisans for more than 80 years in Georgia. Yet, it also brings an updated, modern look to our brand that we believe will resonate with today’s consumers.”
While the new branding won’t officially roll out until next year, Vidalia Onion’s marketing team made a strategic decision to share a sneak peak with Fresh Summit attendees and begin gearing up excitement about what is to come.
California Walnuts
While not a Fresh Summit exhibitor, California Walnuts also picked this prime season to share big marketing news. In early October, the company introduced their rebrand with a logo designed to emphasize the familiar shape of the beloved nut while also prominently showcasing an image of the sun to underscore the healthy, natural origins of the product. Along with the new logo, the company is launching a multi-media advertising campaign in the U.S. to speak to shoppers about the versatility of walnuts for cooking and snacking. The campaign tagline “So Simple, So Good” will be used across media including television, print and digital ads.
In many ways timing is everything when releasing big news, and certainly there are many variables that define the ‘right time’ for telling your stories. But without a doubt, if you are a Fresh Summit exhibitor, you cannot go wrong by leveraging the story behind a recent rebrand to get your audience excited about stopping by your booth.
How about you? How have you leveraged a new brand look & feel or brand repositioning to encourage conversations lately? We would love for you to share!
