WATSONVILLE, CA - In a pivotal move to help the fresh produce industry break the chains of traditional norms and move towards emotion-driven marketing like world class CPG brands, Driscoll’s is rebranding for the first time in its 100 year history.

This new branding strategy, driven by Driscoll’s desire to create more authentic consumer connections, took root four years ago as an intuition the company wanted to explore and is launching in the U.S. today as part of a worldwide plan to roll-out a cohesive visual brand statement.

The new look includes a refreshed logo and new design elements for packaging, in-store merchandising, digital, and social media touch-points. According to the company, the rebrand already hit Australia and Europe in previous months with great response.

“We had this sense, being in the business, that consumers had more of an emotional feeling about berries,” said Soren Bjorn, EVP of Driscoll's of the Americas. “Once we started heading down that road, we quickly realized that our current expression of our brand - our physical assets and how we talk about the berries - were more functionally oriented.”

Consequently, the company invested in a worldwide study of nearly 5,000 consumers, asking them to write about their experiences with berries.

Bjorn said, “It was amazing. Consumers would describe these experiences they had with berries in very emotional terms, and in very universal language. You’d have a consumer in Shanghai writing about going to a strawberry farm with Mom and Dad to pick strawberries, and you’d have no idea it wasn’t someone from California or Holland. These stories were so similar around the world, and they were all about the special moments that berries create for people. Once we saw that, we realized it was something we could tap into.”

As part of the brand journey, Driscoll’s made a significant investment in global consumer research as part of its strategy. The company comments that survey findings demonstrate a direct connection between eating berries and happiness, which allowed the company to evolve its brand strategy from fruit as function, to a stronger emotional connection. In a statement, Driscoll’s cited findings which support the decision to update to a more emotional, joy-driven brand, including:

• A recent U.S. survey of 1,000 men and women further showing that more than 85% of people agree eating berries make them happy as compared to other types of fresh produce.
• Berries consistently trigger the strongest, most positive, emotional connections, while kale, beets and lettuce are more often associated with functional benefits.
• Happy memories (79%) and summertime (82%) as strong positive emotional links associated with berries.

“We have introduced some elements that are softer, more emotional, and more relatable to consumers,” Bjorn commented on the updated branding.

Driscoll’s new look was inspired by berries as colorful pop icons of fresh produce, with the individual colors and shapes of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries captured in a fresh color palette paired with expressive typography. The updated Driscoll’s brand logo reflects a personalized handwritten stylistic approach, along with an iconic Driscoll’s Dot which sits atop of the “i” and will lend itself to many different digital and social applications down the road. The Driscoll’s Dot can take on the color of each berry, while the main dot will remain red, as a nod to strawberries, which are where Driscoll’s got its start.

“Creating global brand value is key to any company’s future. When you consistently deliver on a great consumer experience, successful brands build a loyal consumer base willing to pay premium pricing. We’ve seen berry consumption significantly grow over the last five years. Fresh berries continue to lead fresh produce sales as a top selling retail category. Our passion is to grow great tasting berries and we are one of the few berry companies with a dedicated R&D team focused on breeding proprietary varieties,” said Bjorn. “As a market leader in fresh berries, we are excited to elevate the brand opportunity to further capture the hearts of our berry consumers – such an opportunity is rare and a privilege in the produce industry.”

As the company continues rolling out the visual branding worldwide, Bjorn comments that while there aren’t currently any major changes to the company’s core products, this rebrand has the potential to open new doors down the road. He adds, “Our brand is the last name of our founders, so this has been a very emotional change for us. The founding families have been very involved in the process, so for our company this is a bit bigger. We’re excited to see this come into fruition, and it’s been a very rewarding process.”

While the updated and modern design approach is new, the brand will still be familiar to loyal consumers as it maintains the foundational colors of green and yellow. The brand identity also retains the promise “Only the Finest Berries” which speaks to the superior flavor that has earned credibility and trust with consumers.  

To learn more about the Driscoll’s new visual brand identity system and to access the U.S. survey details, please visit Driscolls.com/ShareTheBerryJoy.

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