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Woolworths unveils major Australian rebranding

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Woolworths has today unveiled its new look as part of an Australia-wide rebrand, which is being rolled out across its 780 supermarket stores. 

In May's issue of Marketing, Scotland wrote a long feature all about the need for the major players to bring a more entertaining and engaging experience to the Australian supermarket shopping environment, and this announcement by Woolworths shows that the need for more innovation in the industry is being taken seriously and acted upon.

Woolworths general manager of marketing, Luke Dunkerley, said that the rebranding reflects Woolworths’ commitment and track record of providing Australian shoppers with quality fresh food and groceries at competitive prices.

"We are rebranding stores to retain our leadership position in what is an extremely competitive market. We have only achieved this leadership position by ‘walking the talk’ and Australian shoppers are voting with their feet," he said. "The refurbishment of the supermarkets that is accompanying the rebranding will deliver customers wider aisles, brighter supermarkets and a more pleasant shopping experience."

Twenty one years after the introduction of "The Fresh Food People", the company will introduce a new icon reflecting Woolworths’ strong commitment to fresh food, convenience and value for customers. The new branding was created by leading designer Hans Hulsbosch of the Hulsbosch Agency who recently updated the iconic Qantas identity.

It introduces a new icon that symbolises several aspects of the Woolworths brand:

  • It is a stylised ‘W’ for Woolworths with the addition of an abstract leaf symbol representing fresh food
  • It is reminiscent of one of the most famous Woolworths logos of the 1970s
  • It represents a person - as in “The Fresh Food People” and the Woolworths focus on its customers.

As part of the move, Woolworths will become be a truly national brand with its Safeway stores in Victoria adopting the Woolworths name. This will align the company’s Victorian supermarkets with Woolworths’ national network. 

What do you think?

  • The next issue of Marketing magazine is focusing on design, and we want to know what you think of the new logo?
  • Does anybody elese think that it looks like an apple? How important is the logo design of a supermarket anyway?
  • Aren't we all more interested in everyday low prices and less range rationalisation?

7 Comments

oscar
  • Wrote on 22 Aug, at 03:58PM
i hope they didn't pay as much for that as the London olympics did. Quite simply a logo doesn't get me into a store. Value for money does.
Wags
  • Wrote on 23 Aug, at 12:42AM
This isn't *re-branding*, its merely a new logo!

"the company will introduce a new icon reflecting Woolworths’ strong commitment to fresh food, convenience and value for customers." Are they announcing fresher food, more convenient shopping, and improved value for money? No. Just a new visual representation of the same old thing.

A brand is so much more than just a pretty picture. Lets hope that they dont waste this opportunity to reconfigure the entire brand, not only the *icon*.
Grahamk
  • Wrote on 23 Aug, at 11:55AM
Obviously your not in VIC Wags ??

In VIC it is called Safeway so it is a whole re-branding exercise..
Wags
  • Wrote on 23 Aug, at 07:39PM
@Grahamk: Yes, I am in Melbourne. My point remains... logo, name, same thing. What else are they changing? If nothing else, then this isn't re-branding, it's simply re-naming. @oscar's initial post above says it all... a new logo won't get him into a store.
belinda
  • Wrote on 23 Aug, at 10:38PM
I guess time will tell how well this 're-branding' is embraced, and whether the perception of Woolworths becomes more positive
Editor | Scotland
  • Wrote on 24 Aug, at 09:26AM
It's funny actually, because I find myself agreeing with Wags - this 'rebrand' doesn't seem to have changed much apart from the name. And if the supermarket is so proud of its freshness etc, why then doesn't it spruik from the highest hilltops the new format supermarkets that Woolworths has introduced into NSW, Thomas Dux?

These stores (currently only two of them) are all about fresh food, quality ingredients, local suppliers, personal service and customer-facing food specialists offering up sage (hahah) advice. But if you spend time ont heir site you'll never find out that it's a Woolworths venture. Well, not unless you decide to read the privacy statement - would love to know how many visitors to the site have checked out that page!

Woolworths have kept their name off the site as much as possible, presumably to stop existing Woolworths customers asking the question,
"If you can deliver a far more engaging quality shopping experience, why wouldn't you do this for all of your stores? Why do only customers near Paddington and Lane Cove get to experience this?"
Supermarkets in the UK and US have realised that there are far more exciting initiatives that can be brought to the in-store shopping environment than just heavier discounting or loyalty cards, and they are pushing:
  • Instore theatre - reaching out to shoppers and engaging them
  • Clustered store layout - food layed out in-store along narrative lines. So the pasta sauces are with the spaghetti and next to the washing detergent
  • Dedicated demonstration zones featuring specialists
  • In-store information points, CD-listening stations and interior decoration, above and beyond the strip-lit aircraft hanger feel that most supermarkets have perfected.
So we might realistically ask why the supermarket landscape here in Australia is still so bleak.

When will the big two relent and put the shopper at the centre of the value equation for their operations?
Grahamk
  • Wrote on 26 Aug, at 10:12AM
Currently Safeway. All Safeway stores will be changing their name to Woolworths. Have I got the wrong end of the stick?

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