Derrick Lin

Global

Creative Agency: Pearlfisher
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Packaging Content: Berries
Location: USA

Pearlfisher partners with iconic berry brand, Driscoll’s, to develop new global brand identity.
The world of produce presents a unique branding challenge: filled with largely regional or unbranded entities, only a few noteworthy or known brands successfully rise above the commodity-driven industry. One of these brands, Driscoll’s, has enjoyed continued growth by cultivating a robust, international network of independent growers, while remaining a family owned company with more than 100 years in farming heritage.

Poised for a phase of global growth, Driscoll’s recognized that the time was right to seek a branding partner and shore up its equity, including its global brand identity—and joined forces with Pearlfisher to make it all happen.

Driscoll’s has historically focused on the functional qualities of their produce, specifically fresh and delicious berries. Going forward, the opportunity was ripe for Driscoll’s to elevate their brand by forging deeper emotional connections and building stronger bonds with their consumers.

Karen Schnelwar, Pearlfisher Head of Strategy, commented, “Driscoll’s berries are universally loved, and wherever they are—pancakes, picnics, dessert, summertime—they make everything better. Our strategic challenge was to capture and express their unique brand of berry joy. We created a suite of strategy tools—Brand Story, pillars and personality attributes—to do just that. The new brand positioning embodies the unique role Driscoll’s berries play— that when their berries are added to the mix, ordinary moments are made more special. By connecting the functional with the emotional, Driscoll’s and their berries will live even more powerfully in hearts and minds of everyone they touch.”

These potent brand ideas have been brought to life with a playful and appealing new visual identity system. Jonathan Ford, Pearlfisher Founding Partner and Chief Creative Officer commented, “The new Driscoll’s brand mark has an idea at its core – one of presence, stature and humanity. The ‘Driscoll’s Dot’ over the ‘i’ changes color within a custom berry-inspired palette, which represents both the berries and the moments of joy they bring to consumer’s lives. The logo uses hand-crafted cursive typography to reflect the hand-picked care that goes into their berries and the brand’s unique attributes: approachable, joyful and fun-loving, without being artificially perfect. The typography is a more natural green, inspired by the berry plants themselves. The identity incorporates a backdrop of historic and iconic yellow, symbolizing sunshine that makes Driscoll’s brand and packaging distinctive and recognizable.”

The visual identity system incorporates a series of custom prints and patterns of graphic berry forms. Joyous and visually arresting, the patterns marry with the library of custom berry and lifestyle photography to create a cohesive and compelling whole. The brand strategy and visual and verbal expression are codified in an iconic brand book created by Pearlfisher. The book is both inspirational and educational, spanning history, brand story, and brand identity brought to life across a variety of touch points and channels—from website and signage, to branded collateral and their iconic packaging that lives in billions of homes worldwide.

Unique branding
Driscoll’s faced a unique branding challenge: in a largely unbranded category, they sought to forge a more emotional connection with their audience as they planned for greater global expansion. Poised for a phase of global growth, Driscoll’s recognized that the time was right to seek a branding partner and shore up its equity.

We developed a new brand positioning that embodies the unique role Driscoll’s berries play—that when their berries are added to the mix, ordinary moments are made more special. By connecting the functional with the emotional, Driscoll’s and their berries will live even more powerfully in hearts and minds of everyone they touch.