Râureni is the oldest Romanian brand of canned fruit and vegetables, established in 1968 and, for a long time, the only one of this type accessible to Romanians. After the 1990s, Râureni slowly disappeared from the attention of consumers, due to the inability of Oltchim (the multi-industrial business that owned the brand) to manage its portfolio in a competitive way, in the free economy. During this time, new brands were emerging in the category, and others were modernizing and communicating intensively to build relationships with a changing consumer. In this context, in 2008, entrepreneur Dan Mutu acquires the Râureni Canning Factory from Oltchim, a transaction that meant, in fact, the acquisition of the Râureni brand and several decommissioned buildings from the old factory.
Dan Mutu is an entrepreneur by definition and a good connoisseur of the canning category and the business model in the industry, having already in his portfolio, in 2008, the canning business Fravil, which he built from scratch. He decided to buy Râureni, relying on a bold vision of the future: to bring back to the lives of Romanian consumers a beloved brand and restore its iconic brand status of yesteryear. The questions he challenged us with were: how can we reinvent a brand that has only been preserved in the memory of generations before '89? How can we make it relevant and relevant to today's consumers?
When you have a brand with a tradition of more than 40 years, the change must be made “cum grano salis”. It is necessary to maintain a balance between the authenticity that the brand has gained over the years and the relevance for current generations of consumers. Thus, our recommendation was to reposition the brand, taking into account new consumers and the current competitive environment, and express this positioning at the level of label design, while retaining the elements that gave the brand authenticity.
We started the project by evaluating the company's brand information. We talked with the entrepreneur about the vision of the brand (investment plan, portfolio evolution) and the actions to follow to fulfill it, but also about how he sees things done in the company. We have become familiar with the production process and the real actions through which the company brings added value to consumers.
Externally, we analyzed changes in consumption habits and identified the type of consumer that Râureni addresses. We also defined the framework in which the brand was going to evolve: the competition, the industry and its trends. This is how we outlined the story of the brand, carried forward by the new vision: the taste of Râureni is the fruit of respect for generous nature and care to preserve its virtues and offer them further, in every jar.
The road from nature to the jar is the simple way in which the brand tells its story: carefully chooses perfectly natural fruits and vegetables, from safe and fresh sources (most of the time from its own orchards and gardens), which it prepares with soul to give to Romanians. These are also the attributes that underlie the construction of the brand.
Dedication and care for nature and others, evident from the brand's story and the way it does things, were two attributes that differentiated the brand and that, together with the brand story, could generate a relevant and credible promise for consumers. We created the slogan “With love from nature” to give the brand the opportunity to communicate coherently and centrally, to different audiences, what makes it unique: the desire to give people access to everything nature values.
We redesigned the brand identity, taking into account two elements to which there was an attachment and were recognized by consumers: the heart and the color red. Starting from the brand's idea of balance between caring for nature and that of the consumer, we introduced a second green heart, which represents the nature and care of the brand towards it. The font Cronos Pro brings the brand into modernity and at the same time visually supports the idea of warmth and care.
Once the idea and attributes of the brand were defined, we continued the process of change with the development of master packaging for the entire portfolio. After an analysis of the portfolio structure by ranges and considering the strategic recommendation to provide a high degree of brand recognition on the shelf, we decided to develop the label design as unitary as possible, for the popular categories: jam, compote, vegetables. Dulceața de la Râureni, because it has always been the flagship product range of the brand, benefited from a jar and label design that highlights the premium positioning of this type of product.
The concept that formed the basis of the master packing was that of the “modern pantry”. Râureni is today's brand that recreates your pantry, with products made with care, from perfectly natural ingredients. The same care as before, in a modern interpretation in design, using handwritten fonts and friendly colors.
The modernization of the Râureni brand also meant rethinking the communication style. Who are we talking to? How do we talk? Are we friendly? Do we challenge to the discussion? What does natural mean in communication? We answered these questions by developing a complete communication platform, from visual style, imaging, to tone of voice and copywriting rules.
With the repositioning and shift of focus in communication, to a different audience, the brand began to be much more attentive to consumer needs and expectations from fruit and vegetable products. From the constant dialogue with consumers arose the need to launch new products or product ranges: the Dieta range (fruit jams, without added sugar), the Gourmet range (sweets for special cooking occasions), the range of natural juices based on apple, the Făr' de Seamun range (for unique Râureni products) or Moment Perfect (the sweet with higher fruit content and without sugar added). We have thought of a new packaging design for each one, keeping the elements that identify the brand, but at the same time giving it differentiation in the portfolio and on the shelf.
For product brands, the site is the home where they can invite their consumers, where they can talk to them openly, in tune with their personality, and where they can create and own content. We have turned the Râureni website into an authentic interaction space, where consumers get in touch not only with the story and products of the brand, but also with original content, developed especially for them (blog section with recipes, contests, etc.). Using the platform Dynamicweb, an all-in-one platform (content management, eCommerce and online marketing) we provided the marketing team with relevant data on visitor behavior, as well as complete contact management tools (newsletters, personalized targeting, etc.)
Beyond interacting with consumers, we have used Social Media to create a community of Râureni fans, to encourage them to develop a long-term relationship, so that their love for the brand can turn them into ambassadors of Râureni. We started from shaping the content strategy (audience, message types, channels) and maintained constant communication (daily) with the brand's audience by creating content (posts, video, image) for Facebook, blog, Instagram, also managing user interactions (comments, shares, etc.). We involved Millennials in the story of the brand, challenging them to conversation, to link their personal experiences with the brand (through interactive contests), to share the things that make them love Râureni.
We complemented this organic digital development through online marketing campaigns aimed at increasing brand awareness. At the same time, we have created online campaigns (Google Display, Facebook Ads, Remarketing) to promote competition initiatives or partnerships with opinion leaders in the food category (food bloggers).
Citește mai mult
