Have You Been Branded?

If you ever talk to a marketing consultant about how to increase sales, no doubt the word “branding” will come up. That’s marketing jargon for something that you may already be doing instinctively: working to build strong name recognition for your farm and your products. If you haven’t given it any thought, perhaps it’s time that you do.

Strong brand name recognition leads to customer loyalty, an important sales and marketing goal. You want first-time customers to remember your farm or product name so that they’ll return to buy your product time and again, ultimately developing a preference for your product. Of course you’ve got to offer a quality product to go with the name, but no matter how good your product is, if the customer doesn’t remember your name you may never see them again.

Most of us learn brand recognition at an early age, and often remain loyal for life. What brand of peanut butter did you prefer as a kid: Skippy? Jiff? Peter Pan? Chances are that you still buy that brand today.

Some brand names have gained such a level of recognition that they have become synonymous with the product. If you cut your finger, do you ask for an adhesive bandage? You more likely ask for a Bandaid. If you have the sniffles, do you ask for a facial tissue? You probably ask for a Kleenex. You may have even used a brand name to refer to the process of photocopying. Did you ever ask someone to Xerox something?

When you think about brand names in food, major brands of processed products probably come to mind first. Hellman’s Mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. Land O Lakes butter and Keebler cookies. Pepsi and Coke. In fact, Coca Cola has to be the granddaddy of all recognizable brands. That red circle with the wavy white ribbon is known worldwide, from downtown Atlanta, where the company is headquartered, to little mountain villages in Guatemala.

There have been some very successful branding efforts for produce as well. Does the name Vidalia ring a bell? Or Freida’s Specialty Produce? Or Dole, Chiquita and Sunkist? Names like these are household words and shoppers often view the logos associated with these names as seals of quality.

So how does all this apply to you and your small local farm? Can you ever hope to gain the name recognition of Dole or Sunkist? Well maybe not on a national level (though, never say never), but you can certainly establish your name in your own community, state or region.

One Massachusetts farm, Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury (www.ciderhill.com), launched a branding effort last year. With the help of a marketing consultant, Glenn and Karen Cook developed a logo, package labeling, a brochure and a website designed to establish the farm’s identity and build recognition for the name.

A logo is the key component of a branding effort. A readily recognizable visual symbol used in combination with the company or product name establishes your brand. Think of it in terms of a rancher branding his cattle to identify them as belonging to his ranch, which is named to tie in with his brand symbol. The Lazy K Ranch in Tucson, for example, uses a sideways K for their brand.

Closer to home, the Cider Hill Farm logo is a stylized apple and if you look closely you’ll see the farm’s initials, CH, in the shape of the apple. Another local farm has a logo with a similar concept: Carlson Orchards of Harvard, Mass. (www.carlsonorchards.com), uses an apple formed from the letters CO on their cider and sparkling cider labels.

So how do you get a logo? Well, you can hire a graphic artist to design one for you. Or you can design it yourself, or maybe ask an artistic family member or employee to design one. One way or the other, whether the logo is sophisticated or homespun, simple or more detailed, it should be reflective of your business and your products.

Once you have a logo, use it everywhere: on letterhead, business cards, brochures, packaging, PLU stickers, point of sale displays, advertising, your website, apparel like t-shirts and caps (and make sure your employees where them), you name it. The Cook’s selection of branding tools – the logo, labeling, website and printed materials – are typical components of a branding effort, though certainly not a complete list of what can be done.

Whether you sell wholesale or strictly retail, you want the consumer to know you by name, not just an anonymous produce supplier or “that farm up the street.” You’ll know that your branding effort is successful when customers use your name when talking about your products. If you overhear something like “here, have a Cider Hill apple” or “how about a glass of Carlson’s cider” you’ll know you’ve been branded.

Copyright 2003 by Diane Baedeker Petit
This article originally appeared in the July, 2003 issue of Growing magazine