Entrepreneur Middle East, 3rd Feb 2021
A company’s brand is its most valuable asset. It’s much more than just a name, a logo, or the products and services it provides. It’s the company’s entire culture, the way it is perceived, and the feelings it evokes in other people. A company’s brand voice makes it identifiable, and it reflects its core personality. A strong and successful brand identity can take many years to cultivate, and it is the essence of why customers are loyal.
For any asset within a business, an adjustment (or overhaul) is occasionally required. The same goes with company branding. It’s a natural part of a company’s growth as it delivers new products and services or expands into new markets.
For us at Barakat, we had built up a strong brand identity over many successful years of operating in the fresh produce sector since we were founded in 1976. However, customer behaviors and preferences are constantly evolving, and businesses must do the same to ensure they stay on top of demographic shifts. Sometimes, a rebranding exercise is required to establish a connection with a savvy, young audience.
With this in mind, our careful research led us to the conclusion that our brand needed a fresh look and feel to appeal to a generation of consumers that demands more from life and from the brands it adopts. This wasn’t a rebrand for the sake of it- this was a targeted move to shape our brand to one that best engaged with the needs and lifestyle choices of our target market.
Our target audience is incredibly health-aware and believes in the power of experience. In addition, they are acutely aware of how stressful everyday life is, and thus make choices that will alleviate these stress points by keeping themselves physically fit and making healthy food choices.
Our new branding, and our use of the tagline, “We serve the best of fresh,” is an example of how we identify with that lifestyle choice. We are aware that being healthy is a choice. The motto running through every facet of the business is that Barakat makes being healthy a matter of convenience, and that it helps its consumers be a “healthier version of themselves.”
Another essential element of a company brand is how it communicates with its customer base. This includes everything from its tone of voice, to its preferred channels of communication. One sign that a rebrand is required is when these methods of engaging with customers become outdated, resulting in a waning connection with those you most want to reach.
Part of the Barakat refresh is taking the brand to our target customers via the media channel that they most identify with, which is digital. Influencers, bloggers, and travelogues are the key communication channels that Barakat needs to feature in for maximum traction with this audience. We’re also mindful of the fact that the audience tends to be “outdoor” in their quest for new experiences, and so, activations are another key communication vehicle in the mix.
Businesses must examine how their products and services are accessed by their target market. Buying habits have undergone dramatic shifts over the past 10 years, and the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically fast-forwarded the shift to e-commerce platforms. Barakat products are available across all leading retailers, as well as on our e-commerce platform, barakatfresh.ae, and the Barakat app. We are also the fresh produce partner of noon.com, reaching a wide consumer base bringing together freshness and convenience. These elements are increasingly reflected in our new brand vision.
As part of our rebranding exercise, Barakat Group is also implementing long-term sustainability strategies, such as forming agreements and partnerships to adopt sustainable and environmentally responsible practices for the group. The group has set a new benchmark on sustainability standards by aspiring to be a “zero-waste” company by 2025, having achieved a “zero-effluent” status in 2020.
Everyone at Barakat is really excited about a brand refresh that marks an exciting new chapter in the future of a homegrown UAE company. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a gamechanger. Many companies in the UAE will now be forced to examine the way they conduct their business, their ethics, their overall identity, and the way they reach consumers in the new world we find ourselves. For Barakat, this meant a reaffirmation of what we do best, but with a few tweaks, to make more sense to our consumers in a post-pandemic economy.