A recent INC Magazine power point on Rebranding Dave’s Gourmet left me wondering about the strategy behind the rebranding effort. It was actually January’s cover story.

You can read the whole article here.

It ended up a nice portfolio piece for Deskey, an agency out of Cincinnati (read P&G) but not a good rebranding effort for Dave.

You see they didn’t define the target market first. The strategy (as it appears to me) is “let’s get edgy, zany, push the envelope.” “Be a little wild.” “Let’s make a name for ourselves.”

The strategy was not: Who buys Dave’s? Guys 18-35? Women? Men 25-45? Who is at the end of the hand that reaches out to pluck the product off the shelf? How can we make something memorable and compelling that increases appeal to them?

I watched the slide show and felt that each one of the 6 brand executions went after a different target market. Kicking the *@#$ out of something is not the same target market person as Renaissance Dave or wholesome Dave that was touted as the winner.

Customer first, Competitive analysis second.
Branding position third…

and Graphic Design… well..

Starting with graphic design before you have your ducks in a row, (Sorry guys!) it might look cool, but it doesn’t deliver customers.