verdbx
LOGO + BRAND IDENTITY // WEBSITE // SOCIAL MEDIA // PHOTOGRAPHY
VERDBX NEEDED A NEW BRAND IDENTITY, LOGO, WEBSITE, PHOTOGRAPHY, AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO GROW THEIR SUSTAINABLE RESTAURANT CONTAINER BUSINESS NATIONWIDE
THE OPPORTUNITY
VERDBX IS AN ECO-FRIENDLY ‘TO GO’ CONTAINER MANUFACTURER CREATED BY RESTAURANT PEOPLE FOR RESTAURANT PEOPLE WHO HAVE AN UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO THE ENVIRONMENT
VerdBx manufactures a rather amazing little brown box designed for “to go” food use. The company offers an outstanding product — sustainable, stackable one-piece design, affordable, microwavable, leak-resistant, cut-resistant, heat-lamp resistant, etc. VerdBx is passionate about earth-friendly products, which comes from their love of people and the earth’s future.
THE CHALLENGE
Make a plain little brown recyclable box wildly popular and very sought after. VerdBx lacked awareness amongst a wide variety of potential food service and restaurant industry customers locally, as well as regionally and nationally. While VerdBx manufactured an innovative product far superior to the offerings of competitors, the company lacked a defined strategy to position the brand in a compelling and engaging way to make restaurants and distributors care about it, want to learn more, and make a purchase.
BRAND IDENTITY + LOGO
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE LITTLE BROWN BOX,
IT’S ABOUT WHAT THE LITTLE BROWN BOX REPRESENTS
While VerdBx is indeed a little brown box, the story is about more than the little brown box. The little brown earth-friendly box represents the company’s passion for saving the planet. Novel needed to create a brand identity and logo that was at once approachable, relatable to every possible customer in the food industry — as well as to consumers who would want to do business with a restaurant that placed a priority on sustainable products — fun, playful, and values-driven.
Our deliverable involved a logo that incorporated a variety of visible and subtle elements: 1) the leaf to symbolize the product made from recycled paper derived from trees to signal sustainability; 2) the shapes to represent earth, soil, topography, etc.; and 3) grounding colors which represent nature.
The goal was to position Verdbx as an affordable and product-driven brand created by restaurant people for restaurant people to enable the company to more effectively expand its market share regionally and nationally.
PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY
MAKING THAT LITTLE BROWN BOX RELEVANT FOR TODAY'S CULTURALLY-SAVVY MILLENNIAL CONSUMERS
Most photography of restaurant “to go” containers are ugly, plain, and completely unremarkable. The modern, relevant photography and playful, easy-to-use website we created for VerdBx tells the story of a product that will revolutionize the way restaurateurs package “to go” food. We created a foundation and framework which empowers VerdBx to better position itself in the food industry and effectively market its brand for growth while staying true to its sustainable mission.
The photography style is more intentional and elevated to support the brand strategy. Novel developed an approach inspired by the more artistic style of consumer product photography to take the institution out of institutional products. We elevated the expendable, modernized an age-old product category, and made little brown boxes playful and engaging for Millennial decision-makers and customers.
BEAUTY + DATA
CONVERSIONS HAPPEN AT THE INTERSECTION OF BEAUTY and SIMPLICITY
Novel’s unique process in working with our clients is all about digging in and learning your business. It enables us to understand who you are and who you want to do business with. We lean in and get inside the mind of your target audience to create a story and strategy that connects the dots and engages them where they live. With the right messaging we propel the target customer along on their journey to take action and support a business which shares their values. Connection = Conversion.
MOBILE-FRIENDLY WEBSITE DESIGN
RELATABLE, ENGAGING, PRODUCT-DRIVEN WEBSITE WITH A MISSION
The website design was purposeful. The simplicity of the product is represented through the simplicity of the website. There is no need to be lengthy, complicated, and verbose. The content is straightforward, relatable, and details everything a potential customer would want to know in a single scroll. The copy incorporates insider restaurant lingo — “86,” “heard,” etc., to communicate that VerdBx speaks their language. The photography illustrates the variety of purposes VerdBx products serve. And as a site visitor scrolls, the VerdBx message is incredibly easy to understand and ease of ordering is evident. The key messaging of affordability and sustainability are reinforced throughout the site to create an identity which becomes synonymous with price-value and environmental awareness in the restaurant industry.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CRAFT AN ENGAGING SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN DESIGNED TO BE SHARED
Anyone who loves or is involved with food is on Instagram. A large part of our social media strategy for VerdBx was developed to use social media to connect with the decision-makers at restaurants who order their expendables with the goals of driving customer loyalty (restaurant), building awareness (primary — restaurant decision-maker and secondary — general public/restaurant customer), and creating community.
Novel’s execution involved creating and sharing Instagram stories featuring the “VerdBx Guide to Local & Sustainable Dining.” We identified customer food photos in restaurants and with location tags on Instagram that feature VerdBx in order to create our posts — and that the restaurant would ultimately reshare.
We also took a scientific approach to the concept of sustainability, because we know the local consumer preference for sustainable restaurants is growing. Our efforts supported VerdBx customer restaurants by giving them something to share with their customers which highlights their sustainable practices and adds third-party credibility to their efforts.
Novel calculated the amount of plastic that is saved from the environment when a VerdBx product is used versus a plastic competitor. We then calculated the amount of plastic our restaurant customers have saved individually and collectively. This created content for us to craft Instagram posts and stories highlighting the plastic a restaurant saved from landfills and the ocean. We tagged the restaurant customer with the goal that the restaurant reshared the post or story. Goal achieved.