Re-Brand Success

I take forever and a day in the grocery store. Well, any store for that matter. No friends like to shop with me because I have to go up and down every grocery lane or inch of a store. I swung by my favorite grocery store on the way home from work tonight... I call it Pretty Publix because it's beautiful and brand new. I enjoy perusing each lane and seeing what advertising and brand messaging is going on. Wait, what? Oh ya, I do throw some food in my cart (or buggy) too & I try very hard to mirror it to my pre-made list. But back to the brand messaging....

Working in national marketing always has me intrigued by brands. I always like to go behind any advertising & make my own observations about the backbone of that ad message.... it always goes back to the brand. How a brand positions itself amongst its target consumer... how a brand competes against competitors... how brands message their beliefs, call-to-action or consumer appreciation. I must say though, that my favorite thing to watch a brand do is.... re-brand.

I am not going to bore you with what re-branding is. This is not a marketing journal & there are far more qualified candidates to explain it to you. However, in a nutshell, re-branding is simply this: when a company takes its name or a certain product that represents that name and literally 'comes out' with a renewed image or message. Many times, you won't hear much from a product name while a re-brand is in progress, but once the re-branding has launched, you are then inundated with a full 360 scope of advertising & that product or company name explodes out of nowhere oftentimes, either creating a sense of awareness to consumers who were unfamiliar with their product or service OR renewing a sense of commitment to consumers who already use the brand.

Of course, it's easier said than done & oftentimes, many months (or even years) will go behind a re-branding launch. Many focus groups, many product reviews, many creative briefs, many design stages and so on...  And sometimes, a re-brand can go all wrong! It really is a move that can either be a big hit or a huge loss.

Since I am obsessed with brands, I thought that I should highlight some along the way that I either love or that I think are doing a great job with their brand messaging or brand re-positioning.

Insert SnackWells.

 

A brand that has been around  since I can remember. I love these Devil's Food Cookies, too! Snack Wells emerged in the 90s with a 90s appropriate look. Shopping at Kroger, Publix, Food Lion, etc., I would see them sitting on the shelf... just sitting there. I did always wonder if SnackWells would come out with other product.

 

Boom! SnackWells emerges with their re-branding message in 2010. In my opinion, they did a great job rolling it out. Old packaging was/is still being phased out & new packaging is replacing it. Grocery stores are doing a great job at positioning the new "collection" together in store at eye-level for shoppers to easily see and then easily reach for.

They also introduced new products! The packaging is so fresh! I love it! They kept their roots with the green box & black type, but I like how they played up the font to be more trendy. Also, they did a great job with 'color coding' the different flavors. Each product gets its own color. Would you not want to throw all these boxes in your grocery cart? I would! It's appealing.  

Lastly, their advertising. I think the messaging is so congruent with the product launch and target audience... clearly women trying to watch what they eat. Above is the landing page of their website and below is a magazine ad.

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All-in-All, a success from the humble opinion of a SnackWells consumer. I just hope the ROI proves this re-branding strategy to be successful, because they sure did a great job!