Ask not how your branding agency can help you change the world. Ask how your branding agency can help grow your business.
My twenty-plus years career running branding agencies have taught me what works and what doesn’t work in terms of positioning a business for growth. Many trends, perspectives, and buzzwords come and go. New ones continually pop up.
You’ve heard of approaches like disruption, differentiation, relevance, unique selling propositions, and personalization. But today, what you hear the most is brand purpose. Not just the what, how, or who the brand is, but the “why” you should care and how it makes the world a better place. This “why” is supposed to align with something bigger, which is more important than the straightforward selling of products.
Consumers are visiting restaurants less often rather than simply changing where they visit. Restaurants in the casual dining space have started focusing on small plate offerings and/or lower margin offerings plus better branded dining experiences.
We developed a new brand identity and messaging system for Olive Garden to help elevate the brand experience at all touchpoints. We tapped into their Italian “back to basics” roots but in a modern, chef-focused, urban way. This gives them a new lease on life and creates excitement amongst customers and employees.
Olive Garden’s stock surged 4% after the launch, hitting a new all time high. Their new management team at Darden, high on the success, have taken other promotional steps to boost sales.
What We Did
Brand Strategy, Visual ID and System, Messaging, Marketing Design, Environment Design, Website Design, Illustrations, Iconography Design, and Brand Consulting
