VITNER'S REBRAND
Vitner’s has been Chicago’s own snack company for over 80 years, but with competition at retail fiercer than ever, they needed a new design that was true to their heritage, captured the Chicago spirit and competed on shelf in a bold way.
The Challenge
For over 80 years, the Vitner’s brand was known to Chicagoans for it’s unique and flavorful products and affordable prices. But with changing demographics and stiffer competition, Vitner’s needed to defend their shelf space in urban markets and find a way to penetrate more affluent suburban neighborhoods. The task was to redesign the Vitner’s brand while protecting existing equity.
Existing brand and packaging was outdated and unappealing
Brand evaluation
Cross-disciplinary interviews were conducted involving marketing, sales and distribution with all attitudes and opinions welcomed. A thorough evaluation of the brand was conducted to understand the brand's heritage, consumer perceptions, positive and negative brand attributes, and existing equity. Discussions revealed a unified vision for the future of the brand.
A thorough competitive landscape assessment was conducted with store visits across 20 locations in and around the greater Chicago area - from inner city convenience stores (which accounted for the largest percentage of sales) to more desirable suburban stores. Research into the variety of retail environments provided a backdrop against which creative would be evaluated.
Information gathered during the discovery phase included stakeholder interviews, store audits, brand history, existing packaging and competitive evaluations as well as audience segments and attitudes. Key info was compiled into a comprehensive Creative Brief and reviewed with client and MBD creative and marketing teams. All viable concepts would be measured against objectives defined in the
creative brief.
Competitive evaluation
A marketplace audit was conducted to determine what position the Vitner's brand could occupy that would distinguish it against the dominant Frito-Lay's brands and recently redesigned local brands. Vitner's traditionally unique flavors and bold, over-seasoned taste were key elements in maintaining the brands existing fans.
Target audience segmentation
Vitner's customers were comprised mainly of inner city convenience shoppers, particularly the hot and spicy flavors. Maintaining this audience was key, however the greatest opportunity for growth lied with suburban retail chains and more affluent consumers. The existing Vitner's brand had little recognition and even less appeal with this audience. Even more challenging was converting suburban retail buyers who saw the Vitner's brand as gas station level quality and not appropriate for their shelves.
Logo exploration
Brand marks were developed that would be recognizable to existing customers but would present a more appealing, more modern, and more readable presence at retail
Package design exploration
A range of package designs were developed that were faithful to the roots of the brand but were more engaging, more appealing and competed more effectively with more well-know brands. The new designs also needed to have stronger appeal among the desirable suburban shopper (and retail buyer).
Final Design
Through multiple rounds of refinement, the final design was applied across the entire line of Vitner's products. Packaging featured photo-realistic illustrations of all products and flavor cues, a new brand story and product descriptions. Once the new design hit shelves, Initial sales showed a 70% increase with successful sell-in with suburban retailers.
