In November 2016, Earthy Delights will celebrate its 30th Anniversary - a milestone that provides an excellent opportunity to celebrate the history and ground-breaking accomplishments of this storied brand. Earthy invented the idea of sourcing impossible to find ingredients, and supplying them to top chefs around the country, and in doing so, played a critical role in the development of New American cuisine. This powerful story is at the core of all of our current marketing work. The Earthy Delights and Tamarack Holdings teams have been working together to map out and implement a fully integrated 6-month marketing calendar of product features, promotions and social media content in order to boost awareness, brand loyalty, web traffic and sales -- all tied together under the banner of our new 30th anniversary logo!
At the same time, this is a perfect opportunity to undertake the important work of repositioning and refreshing Earthy’s brand, to ensure that we are well positioned for future growth. There are many reasons for triggering a brand refresh. Key factors for Earthy Delights include the fact that during the last 30 years, the competitive field has changed significantly -- we went from being the first and only purveyor of our goods and services - to being just one of many. As a result, our sales have suffered, as various competitive brands copied our concept and innovated around us. Also, our customer base has evolved, so we need to adapt and tailor our messaging accordingly, in order to stay relevant and ahead of ever changing market trends. While professional chefs and baby boomer home cooks still comprise the foundation of our existing target audience, we know that the demographic for professional chefs is skewing younger than ever, and, in addition, consumer research informs us that passionate Millennial (under 35) home cooks are the largest emerging consumer group aligned with our brand offerings.
It is important to note that we are not “reinventing” the brand - our job is to refresh and reposition an iconic and established brand in a meaningful way that communicates the essential and authentic “Earthy.”
Successful rebranding is more than just an updated visual identity - it’s also a strategy for how we will emotionally and functionally connect our brand to the customers most likely to buy from us. This requires careful analysis and planning, and the vision to tell a meaningful brand story in a way that touches the hearts of both existing and new customers. We are currently laying the foundation for a dynamic Earthy Delights brand-refresh, in time for roll-out prior to the busy 2016 holiday season!
- Wendy Becker, Director of Brand Marketing
“Brand is the promise, the big idea, the expectations that reside in each customer’s mind about a product, service or company. Branding is about making an emotional connection.”