For the first time in the company’s 100-year history, Driscoll’s announces a global unification of its brand strategy and design. The brand differentiating approach is inspired by a multi-year journey uncovering strong emotional links to fresh berries unmatched by any of today’s most popular fruits or veggies. From Shanghai, China to Melbourne, Australia and all the way to Europe and the U.S., consumer research validates that fresh berries consistently have the strongest positive emotional associations to summertime and summer picnics, childhood and happy memories, when compared to other popular produce. As a leader for fresh berries, Driscoll’s is recognized as the most well-known fresh berry brand that consistently grows great tasting berries, and this new differentiating approach will further elevate the brand’s equity to capture the emotional benefit consistently experienced from eating fresh berries.
Driscoll’s new brand design was inspired by the berries themselves as colorful pop icons of the natural world. The individual colors and shapes of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are captured in a fresh colorful pallet and an expressive typography. While the design approach is updated and modern, it will still be familiar to loyal berry consumers as it maintains the foundational equity colors of green and yellow, and retains the brand tag, Only the Finest Berries™, which speaks to the superior flavor that has earned the brand credibility and trust with consumers. The updated Driscoll’s brand logo reflects a personalized handwritten stylistic approach. An iconic Driscoll’s Dot was designed to sit atop of the “i” and will symbolize many things over time. While the Driscoll’s Dot can take on the color of each berry, the main dot is red, to reflect that strawberries are where Driscoll’s got their start.
“Consumers are at the heart of everything we do” says Frances Dillard, director of marketing and global brand lead. “Our farming heritage and company’s mission is centered on delighting consumers with great tasting berries, and with this new global brand strategy, our intention is to express and convey the happiness our berries bring to the eating occasion. There are very few produce companies in the world who can be considered a true consumer-forward brand, and we feel privileged by the rare opportunity to continue elevating our brand to capture the hearts of our consumers, and differentiate ourselves as a brand on an emotional level.”
Fresh berries are now one of the fastest growing categories in the produce industry, accounting for a significant share of produce sales, especially in the U.S. where berry consumption has driven the sales growth of the overall produce industry, contributing more than double the absolute dollar increase over the past five years when compared to other fruits or vegetables. Future category growth will be dependent on the emergence of brand to capture consumer trust and loyalty.
The new brand look and feel will roll out across all global geographies of U.S., Europe, Australia and China in 2016 with critical mass for packaging to hit the retail market in 2017, when the brand strategy will go beyond a new look and feel into a communication roll out throughout the year.
