"Visit a popular store, like an Apple reseller, Nike, Levi’s, H&M or Ikea. The brand should be well-known and you must visit a shop where their products are being displayed or distributed. In smaller towns you may not have access to these stores, in this case you will need to find a section showcasing these items and view how they are displayed or laid out. Before going to the shop, determine the following about their brand identity and, once at the shop, evaluate how they remain true to their brand identity or how they do not. How is the brand identity enhanced (or perhaps, not expressed) at the point of customer interaction? Hand in a write-up with photos of the following:
What brand identity element are they using in their logo (e.g. abstract mark or word mark)?
What do you think their brand ideal is?
How do they remain true to their brand ideal within their shops?
Evaluate the customer experience according to the brand ideal. (For example, if the brand ideal is “innovation”, do you get a sense of that ideal when you visit the outlet?)
Evaluate the visual display of the products according to the brand ideal. (For example, if the brand ideal is “value”, is this expressed in the way they display the products?)"
(my photo)
What better place for this task, than the store you work in, right? My brand choice for this task is the Scandinavian supermarket chain KIWI. Kiwi has 650 retail outlets in Norway, and 102 in Denmark. The stores stock 3,700 articles contained within 300–1,000 square meters of sales area and has about 8000 employees (even more lately, with the Covid pandemic).
Kiwi's logo consists of the company's name written in bold sans serif with a green color and a lighter black "mini price" on the right side of it. It's rather simple, distinct and easy to remember, but includes the most important aspect of the brand, which is the low prices it offers.
Kiwi was owned and operated by Norwegian businessman Per-Erik Burud, who in July 2011 died in a boating accident. After Burud's death, Jan Paul Bjørkøy (on photo) was constituted as new leader of the chain. Especially conspicuous is their corporate-color which is green. This brand color was chosen to represent the company for it's relation with nature. Fresh fruit and vegetables on affordable prices are the most important aspect of the brand and they are using this as their motto. Fresh fish also plays a big role in the stores. Healthy food and lifestyle on good prices is constantly promoted and in addition to that, Kiwi is trying to resolve the global pollution problem by reducing plastic waste and keeping the environment cleaner.
Some of the new stores the company is building have implemented solar panels and even a store with a grass field and beehives on it's roof.
The company also promotes the "Kast mindre mat!" service, which translates to "Throw less food!". That means products that are close to their expiry date get their prices reduced in half in order to sell them and not waste them by having to dispose of them when they are unsalable, but in most cases perfectly fine to consume.
Kiwi remains true to their brand ideal with keeping it's prices as low as possible and constantly refilling their greens section, so customers can have the best in fresh greens. As a worker in one of their stores we are told that fruit and vegetables are our top priority. We need to make sure this section is always filled up and we constantly check for the quality of the products.
(my photos)
As a customer in that same store, I do feel that the company is trying it's best to live up to their promises. A lot of plastic packages and products are being replaced with better environmental solutions (but there is still a long way to go), the fruit and green sections are always looking good, the fish discs are filled with different types and options of fish. Every season Kiwi releases a small booklet (on photo up to the right) that includes a lot of healthy recipes appropriate for the current season. Kiwi also tries to support local producers by introducing their products to the market. Every season there are fresh locally grown strawberries, apples, pears and many more. I also like their innovative ideas for how the stores should be built, as green as possible and in sync with nature. Beehives in store roofs are a great addition to nature.
I found this store concept while doing my research and I think that is amazing. I hope we get stores like this in the future.
Kiwi stands out with it's visual aspects. The green color can be seen throughout the layout of the store, the clothes of the employees, the shopping baskets and carts, their booklets and promotional products (newspapers and posters). All of this forms Kiwi as a strong unit in the supermarket world and I hope they continue to improve in the future.
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