Brands have fallen in love with flat and simple logos, to go along with pared-down messaging, in hopes of establishing a faster and deeper connection with consumers who are spending increasing amounts of time on smartphones.
Trying to hit on those flavors of innovation and quality, Baskin-Robbins is updating its logo with a new simplified font and design. The refresh also includes updated packaging and employee uniforms, and joins recent digital-first refreshes from Velveeta and Burger King.
In the 77-year-old frozen treat maker’s case, the intention was to have circles in the “B” appear more “purposeful,” according to Jerid Grandinetti, vp of marketing and culinary at Baskin-Robbins. The brand also wanted to match the shape of ice cream scoops: The “R” has a half scoop, designed to look like a dollop of ice cream perched on a cone.
“There are some design principles that were at play,” Grandinetti told Adweek. “We wanted the logo to be bold, and it gave us the ability to configure it for social media, exterior signage, interior elements which gives us the ability to make it flexible.”
At 77, Baskin-Robbins still looks ’31’
The ice cream QSR kept its “31” sub-logo alive. Placed in between the “B” and the “R” of the main logo, the number represents the idea that Baskin-Robbins consumers should explore a new flavor every day of the month.
Most people don’t even notice the 31 in the logo, Grandinetti said. Still, the brand never thought of removing it when discussing its new look. Whether that iconic designation of its number of flavors is seen or not, Baskin-Robbins considers the number a reflection of the brand’s core promise: helping consumers discover their next favorite flavor.
“We have so much equity in that 31, and we can continue to really tell a great story about offering great flavors across a range of products,” he said. “It was never really in the consideration set to move in a new direction, but to do it in a way that obviously is a little bit more modern and cuts through that competitive clutter.”
Still, some familiar aspects of its brand image are being jettisoned.
Baskin Robbins is moving away from blue and pink for its main color scheme. Instead, the redesigned logo adds brown and white and a new shade of blue as more of a background color. The brown, white and pink combination takes the brand back to its original look from 1947 through `1991.
The new visual identity and logo were designed by experience agency ChangeUp, which has worked with Baskin-Robbins’ Inspire Brands sibling chains Buffalo Wild Wings and Jimmy John’s.
Uncomfortable truths
Baskin-Robbins president Jason Maceda and Grandinetti both noted that consumer insights shaped the direction of the campaign and the brand revamp. Baskin-Robbins learned some “uncomfortable truths” during the process, including that some consumers thought the brand was dated and childish.
“We were known for quality, but we weren’t necessarily considered innovative and modern,” Grandinetti said. “We wanted to make sure with the campaign that we leaned into changing the perception of the brand, embracing the things that we’re known for and positives, but getting away from some of those negatives. At the same time, it was really important for us to make sure it was an authentic campaign.”
To get the word out, Baskin-Robbins created two 15-second spots. In both clips, a child celebrates small victories with a parent, including completing the first day of school and learning how to ride a bike. With a new tagline, “Seize the yay,” the brand wanted to be concise with the spots.
The platform, strategy and supporting campaign was developed by longtime creative partner 22squared.
According to Grandinetti, for the first time in many years, Baskin-Robbins is putting paid media spend behind a campaign. It’s a full 360-degree campaign across all of the brand’s channels, with both spots set to air on connected TV, online video and streaming services.
Besides a slight color update in 2020, Baskin-Robbins has maintained the same logo since 2006.
A moment of self-reflection
About three to four years ago, Maceda said Baskin-Robbins entered a period of reflection. Sales had declined on a regular basis in the brand’s quarterly reports. Its falling revenues weighed down gains from its sister QSR Dunkin’. The company started what he calls the “raise the bar” strategy, looking within to find a new way forward.
“We took a look at ourselves and listened to our guests, listened to our franchisees, and identified some opportunities,” Maceda said. “So we put a plan together that’s really been about fixing our foundation, our stores, our assets, our franchisees and everything that we do to make sure that we can deliver on that Baskin-Robbins experience.”
This involved closing some stores and exiting deals with franchisees who were not working for the brand.
In 2020, Baskin-Robbins was acquired by Inspire Brands as a part of Dunkin’ Brands Group in an $11.3 billion deal. In Inspire Brands’ latest quarterly earnings report, Baskin-Robbins experienced a 9.9% increase in sales YoY during Q4 of 2021. The sweets QSR also posted growth of 13.6% from two years ago.
‘Stranger Things’ occur
Maceda highlighted a 2019 activation with the Netflix series Stranger Things, where Baskin-Robbins turned two of its stores in California and Canada into Scoops Ahoy stores from the show, drawing 1.4 billion online impressions, as an example of a marketing strategy that helped the legacy brand reestablish itself.
Maceda said the brand’s CPG sales have grown over 70% in the last three years and had another positive year again in 2021.
Baskin-Robbins does about $2.3 billion in sales worldwide, with $700 million in the U.S. Its future plans include growing its core markets and bringing the brand to the East Coast in a in a bigger way. It has over 8,000 global locations.
The brand also plans on growing its CPG presence, expanding in digital and growing its delivery service. It’s also looking at ghost kitchens—food-prep facilities that prepare delivery-only or takeout-based products—to fuel that growth.
As part of the rebrand, Baskin-Robbins is also launching a limited-edition merchandise collection, which includes bicycles and skateboards, available exclusively at ShopBaskinRobbins.com starting next week.
