Client
Plain Vanilla
Service
Brand Identity
Team
Abigail Khor (Brand and Marketing Manager)
Xin Rui Wong (User Research & Data Analyst)
Ning Yap (Art Director)
Brief
Plain Vanilla offers a range of wholesome food, comforting baked goods, thoughtfully curated serveware, and warm, attentive service across six locations in Singapore today.
With the brand’s 10th anniversary coming up as well, it felt like the perfect time to review the look and refine our brand.
Impact
As this is a huge project, we released the new designs in phases. Since our launch of our loyalty programme, ThanksfromPV, we had:
Over 6,000 new customers in 6 months
2,000 rewards given out in 6 months
16,000 new members acquired in total
Overall, the new rebrand has been a great success, with the refreshed vibe significantly reinforced our brand, particularly together with the launch of our new stores at Neil Road and East Coast. The staff is enthusiastic about the new branding, and we hope our customers will love it too.
Challenge
While it is clear that Plain Vanilla has an existing identity, the brand could benefit from a more focused and distinct message.
We sought out from our customers and staff on what they think about the brand. Based on our findings, we then narrowed them to a few core reasons.
Our findings
The good
Great space for families, friends and communities to dine in
Cafe with great bakes, with cupcakes as our signature bakes
Daily routine in life - touch and go routine for office workers with a simple takeaway across our stores
The bad
Similar to any other cafe - competitors such as Tiong Bahru Bakery, Common Man Coffee Roasters
No rewards or incentives for customers
As a small team of four, our first priority was to differentiate among the industry, and clarify the message we wanted to communicate.
The team conducted surveys and interviews from both external and internally. While we gathered the results, we struggled on defining a single message for the brand, as everyone has their own perspective on Plain Vanilla. Instead of just one definition, we split to a set of three core values.
Shaping our everyday life with illustrations
As the Brand Communications Associate, my role is to conceptualize on how to represent these values visually.
With everyone's assistance in the company, each person shared their own perspective on their simple pleasures. Made with communicating ‘Simple is Satisfying’ visually, these are conveyed into brand illustrations, turning those simple pleasures into a tangible, relatable experience.
#SimpleisSatisfying
#SimpleisSatisfying became a trend on the brand’s platform, which launches on the brand’s 10th anniversary. Anyone and everyone are welcome to create a post and share their own moments together with us.
Our loyalty programme, ThanksfromPV
In collaboration with Eber, a cloud-based software specialising in loyalty marketing, we aim to address the lack of rewards, and a way to thank our customers for dining with us.
ThanksfromPV helps to identify our customers and allow them to earn reward points through a 2-tiered system. Customers can then redeem these rewards with the flexibility to use them both in-store or online.
Learnings
With over 90 entries of simple pleasures, it became a challenge to illustrate and distinguish between similar experiences. It had reached a point where I need to better understand the emotional tone of each experience and learn how to differentiate between abstract concepts and physical items.
This rebrand would not have been what it is today without the help of everyone at PV, and especially the Brand & Marketing team. A shoutout to these people, as it is an honor and a delight to work with such an amazing team.
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