Client Spotlight: The Story Behind a New Brand

Congratulations to Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission for the unveiling of their new regional food brand. Purely Piedmont was a collaborative project of The Spark Mill and Polychrome Collective. Magic happens when you align brand strategy and beautiful thoughtful graphics. This was a ConsultCorps project that sprang out of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence in Charlottesville, VA. ConsultCorps is a group of experienced nonprofit consultants partnering with CNE to help clients solve problems and grow effectiveness. I am proud to be one of the founders of ConsultCorp - an innovative solution to finding the best consultant for your project. 

The Ask:

The Spark Mill was asked to investigate a brand for the Rappahannock Rapidan Food Council for the promotion of their locally grown agricultural products and make recommendations for the naming of the campaign. Results of this study were shared with the graphic designer to incorporate into a new visual identity to use to market the products grown and created within the region.

The Process:

We began by conducting a stakeholder survey and data review. This lead to two open Community Visioning Sessions where we sought information on audiences, brand voice, and purpose. All of the information was used to create a brand strategy including a proposed name!  

The Result: 

The brand should be balanced between simple and sophisticated and highlighting farming as a craft. It should feel comfortable to the residents but target the core audiences of the brand. The key to remember in branding is that it should resonate with customers most strongly, rather than describe the farmers and producers of the region. Visual cues included the Blue Ridge mountains, foothills, and the red clay soil. Tone of voice characteristics should include: genuine, trustworthy, and a little fun. A brand with a little dirt on it. 

We passed our comprehensive brand study over to the fine folks at Polychrome Collective who translated our recommended brand into an awesome graphic logo.