Mercato:
Restructure, Reimagine, Reposition & Rebrand
Rebranding is hard. It’s risky. It might not even work. So why do it?
In Mercato’s case, it was more a question of “why not?”
The Grocery E-commerce Platform and Delivery startup’s rapid evolution in the teeth of the pandemic pitted it against entrenched, mainstream competitors such as Instacart, Amazon Prime, Shipt and other’s who’s missions were concerned with serving the interests of Wall Street and monopolistic grocery store conglomerates. These mainstream competitors are all positioned transactionally, and for scale at all costs.
But that value system doesn't resonate with the core customer of Mercato; the neighborhood independent merchants and their respective community peers who collectively represent “the better half” of the 40,000+ grocery store vertical in the United States. Our collective value system is based on a mindset of right at all costs for both the individual, and the community we live and work amongst. The essence of “doing right” is rooted in our core values, beliefs and actions.
Food isn’t just something that we put in our stomachs to make us not hungry. It is how we feed and support for our families. How we get to know our neighbors and how we care for our communities that care for us. But this community needs our help. The indy stores and speciality shops that make our neighborhoods uniquely “us” are being wiped out and left behind in the race to the future of the grocery business that is anything but people friendly.
To compete in this future, merchants and their members need a brand like Mercato to make it their mission to support healthy and vibrant communities through food with insights, technology, personal support, marketplace access and giving.
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
• BRAND MISSION WORKSHOPS
• EXECUTIVE BRIEFINGS
• MARKET RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
• BRAND IP RESEARCH & FILINGS
• IDENTITY DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
• VISUAL SYSTEM
• BRAND GUIDELINE DEVELOPMENT
• INTEGRATED CAMPAIGNS
• INTEGRATED AGENCY PROCESS
• WORKFLOW ANALYSIS
• TEAM MENTORSHIPS & RECRUITING
KEY PARTNER AGENCIES & VENDORS
BRAND ID & STRATEGY: CRYDER MAKES, NEWPORT BEACH, CA
VFX & MOTION: STUDIO FEATHER, TORONTO, CAN
FILM PRODUCTION: BEN FRANKLIN CORNELIUS, LONG BEACH, CA
MARCOM SUPPORT: ROCKET FUEL LABS, SAN DIEGO, CA
TEAM CREDITS
NICHOLAS CRYDER, Executive Creative Director
EDWARD POLITIS, Creative Director
SHADALENE VILLALUZ, Art Director
LILY STINE, Creative Strategist
PRACHI GOKHALE, Senior Copywriter
ANNA CAMPBELL, Graphic Designer
DOUG FORSYTHE, Director of Product Design & Customer Experience
JULIA PURCELL, Senior Product Designer
SAM COLONA, Product Design
DAVID BURNS, VP Customer Acquisition
ZOE JURKOWSKI, Campaign Manager
ANASTASIA ANDRIYANOVA, Email Marketing Manager
DANIEL CARRASCO, CRM Manager
DAN LAGSTEIN, Product Marketing Manager
JUSTINE CALABRESE (BOCKMAN), Senior Product Marketing Manager
Integrated advertising campaign:
Key Insight: Everything you love about your favorite local grocers (online).
Brand activation: Trade Show
Merchant Spotlight Campaign:
Our research showed a very strong value correlation between Premium local merchants and the very best customers of Mercato.
So we created a hyper localized campaign to emphasize these Merchants on the Mercato Platform when establishing Mercato in new markets.
Our strategic insight, was simple, but compelling: when our Merchants look good (online), Our customers feel good.