A Lesson in Rebranding from Chobani's Bold New Design

By Tom Higgins

The supermarket can be a daunting place for the consumer, with hundreds of products all vying for their attention, many of which are extremely similar. The No. 1 way to compete in this crowded field has always been through packaging. A unique design, one that employs colors, fonts and styles that stand out, is more likely to grab a consumer's attention more quickly and efficiently than the competition. I usually tend to reach for products whose packaging I recognize, though this has something to do with my desire to escape the bustle of the store, I admit. One downside, however, to good branding is that other companies may seek to imitate a successful product, especially if that product is a real trailblazer.

This is the exact problem Chobani, the Greek yogurt juggernaut, faced following its inception in 2007. To that point, Greek yogurt had made up a minuscule segment of the American yogurt market. After Chobani, however, everything changed, with competitors such as Dannon and Yoplait introducing their own types of Greek yogurt. While Greek yogurt makes up a staggering 50 percent of the market today, it became apparent to Chobani that their growth had begun to stagnate, in part because of the uniformity of products and designs available in the marketplace.

Rather than rest on its laurels, Chobani decided that rebranding was in order. Seeing that the field was crowded with similar white plastic packaging decorated with hyper-realistic photographs of fruit, Chobani looked to the past for inspiration. For the design, Chobani went with off-white for the packaging, using a rounded, old-style typeface with heavy lettering. In decorating their products, the company went with hand-painted fruits that looked back to 19th century folk art for inspiration.

Here's the old design:

Credit: Chobani, via FoodNavigator-USA

And here are the new designs:

Credit: Chobani

The results are impressive. The package designs are colorful and attractive, and the vintage look is sure to help Chobani stand out in the supermarket. While it’s too early to tell if the rebranding will give the company a significant boost, it is certain that Chobani’s product is set to once again lead the pack in the crowded Greek yogurt market.

While rebranding can be both risky and expensive, it is important to understand that logos and package designs still play a significant role in determining how end-users will perceive a product. While it’s all well and good to copy and emulate other successful designs in order to maintain a certain aesthetic, it’s even more important to recognize when that aesthetic grows overused, and when the trend it has set starts to stagnate. To do so, and to seek out a bolder aesthetic, might just give a brand the jump it needs to get ahead of its competition.