Re-brand. To brand, again. It seems quite simple, but the reality is that companies have different ideas on what it is and its benefits; therefore, they might be losing track of revamping opportunities.
Is Your Brand flirting with a rebrand without you being fully aware?
One thing we know for sure is that the idea of a glow-up is always interesting. But more than giving your company a fresh look, this is a strategic opportunity to bridge the gap between your brand’s idealized hypothesis (that forgotten “mission and statement” document) and your concept’s real, best food story angle.
At Bodega, we’re all about setting things straight before design. When it comes to rebrandings, this feels even more important.
We help restaurant owners understand how to align what they want to make people feel with their feasible actual brand experience and possibilities that come with it
Now… we like to say that in every food business proposal, there’s something particularly sexy that can make your brand more desirable in the medium/long run. When you understand this and promote it clearly in your brand communications and overall experience, you can stand the test of time for longer periods.
But even strong brands need to sharpen their focus from time to time, so we felt like sharing our experience, since we’ve been revamping brand universes all around the world for the past 3 years.
We noticed that there are at least 3 challenging situations/moments that brands within the F&B segment live with that a good revamp can help overcome.
1: Greater Competitiveness is causing clear confusion between food offerings; this is something we’ve been seeing especially in bigger markets (such as São Paulo, Dubai, Amsterdam), with an increasing number of brands competing on different levels, for heart and/or pocket share. It might be the moment to reshape the messaging and make sure the brand idea is still stimulating for people. We want people to keep connecting and having conversations with the brand.
2: It’s time for that Glow-up; That normal wear and tear brands need to be mindful of. In a fast-paced environment such as the one F&B live, there’s a constant need to oxygenate self-expression. The good news is that you’ve been collecting a good understanding of your target(at least you should), so it might be interesting to fine-tune your tone of voice and visual repertoire. Before realising, your brand’s stamina is weakening. It’s time to reaffirm your commitment to the best appetite appeal and cherish new connections through a better exploration of your food & bev values that might be undermined at the moment.
3. Brand Story is getting lost (maybe your central narrative has never been clear enough); In this case, a good strategic step back is the way to go. Firmly understanding what you have best in your hands will make it easier to properly empower it when revamping the identity and brand communications. A good strategic workshop, involving key players inside your brand operation, can do wonders for the realignment of your positioning and a better understanding of how to rebuild the brand culture within the company.
Let’s look at a fictional (is it?) story to illustrate this brand conundrum; even though “Stuart” might be selling focaccia sandwiches mainly, his brand’s best practices might not scream “ITALIA!” and his consumers seem to be unimpressed with the classic Italian visual repertoire he has been presenting. Instead, it might be interesting to focus on crafting a better narrative around the amazing organic local ingredients and set of suppliers with incredible stories he has built in the past years to revamp the “Mamma Mia” narrative to something more powerful that his competitors won’t be able to deliver.
All of these scenarios made us understand a few points that all of our rebranding projects have been consistently working to cater;
- Aligning truth and differentiation through relevant messaging
- Bringing the Sexy back: let’s find that particular part of your food that stands out to your audience, and let’s translate that part into desirable assets
- F&B must be about EMOTIONS: when working with food/bev, we’re dealing with visceral reactions. Build your narrative around strong emotional values. Go for connections.
- Trace and act on your brand experience points: Merch, scents, verbal cues at the end of a tiramisu bowl, these small, intimate moments within the brand touchpoints that make people exchange conversations with you.
We have been working to Revamp brands from different backgrounds in different cities worldwide, such as REVO, PAPILA, ELEVEN GREEN, TANOS AT 8, FOMO, SHUK, EAT KITCHEN, PING YANG, and YOR… In the next few weeks, we’ll showcase a few of these results.
If you sense it’s time for a brand identity and communication revamp, let’s chat! We’d love to partner with you on this exciting journey.
Stay tuned as we showcase the results of our recent collaborations!
#Rebranding #FoodAndBeverage #BrandStrategy #BodegaDesign #BusinessSuccess
Eduardo Brandalise
Co-Founder Bodega