Remembering all those great “2020 visions” we had before this new decade? Although corona virus has pushed many brands in different unexpected directions, It is still a great opportunity for well-prepared companies to break their growth plateau as new normality has been gradually formed in Vietnam. As the Vietnam economy is better day by day since no more new infected case has been recorded, the remaining question is whether brands can take this chance to ‘rewrite the star’
Background
Surfing on the wave of change
2019 witnessed an aggressive rebranding war among many well-known companies, such as Sabeco, Habeco. Even many industries that hardly change like banks, real estate also catch up with this rising trend and create a lot of social buzzes. And this change is just the beginning of a bigger plan. However, in 2020, not many brands have enough courage to continue their plan as they need to reserve a budget for unexpected cases. While the market is less competitive as ever because local brands are still cautious about spending and global companies’ cash have been ‘lockdown’ in their own countries, taking a first strike may bring about great competitive advantage!
Vianco – Dare to take a chance to confront the challenges
To keep the brand relevant with the younger generation, Vianco – a local spice & seasoning brand – decided to refresh its brand identity after 60 years of operation. It might be an adventurous decision during the pandemic outbreak, but it is the right time to plan and prepare for post-crisis reset.
Strategy
Seasoning products may not be sufficient conditions to turn one dish from zero to hero. However, without them, one great dish can be as bland as wheat straw. Think about the beefsteak, how will it taste without seasoning?
When it comes to marketing, products just like raw materials whose quality is necessary but not enough to assure tasting satisfaction. The branding strategy, the way a company communicates with consumers as well as its brand identity will be the missing parts – ‘the seasoning’. And regarding the Vianco case, adding seasoning means adjusting its image to renew the customers’ existing association toward the brand.
Insight
In modern life, food is not what we eat for full but what we love to enjoy. We all love to try the delicious cuisines but the definition of tasty food is different among people. If there is one thing worldwide accepted for the yummy experience, it is the base flavor that defines this dish. For example, regarding Pho, what makes it savory is the spices combined with the umami of beef. Unconsciously, we all have a standard for a particular cuisine, and these standards are rooted in the traditional taste. In other words, what we seek for is not something as modern as we thought, but the taste of origin!
Big Idea
We refresh the brand image to help Vianco catch up with the modern lifestyle without trading off the core value: the unique formula, original taste, natural ingredients and trustworthy quality which are completed and assured by 60 years of company’s experience.
To continue the great story of 60 years conserving the traditional essence, Vianco partners with Wisdom to find a ‘way out’ from a pandemic outbreak. As a result, a new concept is formed: ‘the new original’.
Objective
- Reminding customers about one of the biggest local seasoning brands
- Tightening the connection between the brand and its beloved customers
Execution
Phase 1: Recrafting the brand promise
The secrets behind the enjoyably tasty meal are passed from generation to generation. The daughter learns from her mom, her mom learns from her grandmother, etc. And Vianco has packed these secrets of family happiness inside a new promise to cosset these traditionally peaceful moments:
VEN NGUYEN VI, SONG AN VUI (original taste and flavor intact for enjoyably peaceful life)
Phase 2: Redesigning the brand visuals
Inspired by nature, the brand identity has been designed to imitate the freshness of life:
To enhance natural value – the proposition that is long associated with Vianco – the existing logo has been replaced by a new one: a green leaf-shaped logo that represents the natural origin, combined with a spoon-shaped component to create the familiar feeling of the beloved kitchen.
Regarding the color scheme, we use green as logo color as it is usually associated with a sense of freshness, healthiness and nature. In terms of the package, depending on the products, a color of garlic, chili, turmeric, anise – main ingredients for curry will be used to reflect the spirit of Vianco – Curry that merges 2 different styles (Vietnam – India).
And in the journey of refreshing brand visuals, a familiar image of an Indian chief and a deer are still kept at the center of the package to imply that the value offerings are still the same. Besides, after interviewing a great number of consumers across the country, they all admit that these two images are kind of ‘love marks’ to help them differentiate Vianco among the rest at the first glance. And if Vianco is a particular person, the gentle and friendly characteristic from the chef as well as the peaceful feeling from the deer are the perfect combination to mirror the brand personality!
Dau bep An Đo (Indian Chef) is one of the most popular curry powder brands from Vianco. The mixture of different tones and moods in packaging also reflects the traditional cooking formula: the balance between tastes and color. That is why, the brighter tone should be placed near the cooler one; the hot color of chill, turmeric must be balanced by the gentle green!
Another well-known Vianco product is ‘Ngu vi huong Con Nai’ (seasoning products which fusing 5 different flavors). The center image remains the same – a deer – but is placed in a different background. This new design not only implies the brand transformation after 60 years but also to create a comprehensive image with other products (Indian Chef).
Phase 3: Informing the new change
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
2020 is the year that brands should contribute to support the community, no matter large or small! If there is a single moment that every brand effort can be organically viral, the pandemic outbreak is the right time. Many cases that successfully strengthened the brand love during this time could be named as rice ATM from PHGLock, dragon fruit bread from ABC Bakery, etc. And as a friend of the family for over 60 years, Vianco also joined to share this social responsibility by a charity campaign that provided more than one thousand meals for people in need.
The campaign was widely accepted by a great number of people who had been struggling with daily life. ‘Trade a smile for a smile’ – with this project Vianco wanted to help the blue collars lighten the living burden and pass this crisis time together.
Commercial Video
Sai Gon, Cholon – 1958
Vianco was a shape of the love for curry spice and evidence of the founder’s effort to fusing the local taste with the formula adopted from India. The video is a short recap of how Vianco was made at the beginning and how the core value has stayed for over 60 years to bring the joyful moment for the entire family, especially the housewives.
Out of home billboard
An eye-catching OOH billboard has been used to remind consumers about the brand they love as well as informing them about the new changes in design.
Public Relations
A great number of e-newspapers have been used to leverage the charity campaign effects as well as unveiled the new product packages to the right audiences at the right channel.
Website
As we add more sense of modern life to the Vianco package, the website design also needs to be adjusted to create a comprehensive feeling. Besides, many new functions were added to meet the rising need for the modern housewife!
Social media
We do not want Vianco images to become old and slow when communicating with younger generations. Thus, many creative social posts, minigames, which enable two-way communication, are made to tell the changing story as well as engage with audiences.
In conclusion,
We may observe several rebrand projects recently, but apart from the curiosity about the logo transformation, it is pride when local Vietnam is stronger day by day under the pressure of not only global competition but also corona-virus. And Wisdom is proud to partner with Vianco to conserve and bring back the traditional values to modern life. We believe, even in such a hard time like a pandemic outbreak, when Vietnamese companies team up, nothing is impossible. That is why local brands and agencies must ‘hand-in-hand’ to overcome this challenge!
Brand: VIANCO
Category: Spice and Seasoning
Agency: Wisdom Communications
Timeline: 2019 – 2020
Campaign Type: Brand Communications
Credit: Wisdom Agency