Branding

Image via BrandNew

“Stress baking” has officially entered the consumer vernacular. With shoppers entering the fifth month of the pandemic, baking has become more than just a tasty hobby – it’s an activity that provides comfort, builds community, and helps people take their mind off of stressors by focusing on a hands-on task. While bread (especially sourdough) has become the face of the phenomenon, there has also been a documented rise in consumers making their own cookies, cakes, and even homemade noodles as a way to reduce anxiety and fight boredom. This new significance for baking has created the perfect environment for The King Arthur Flour Company to unveil their rebrand, which includes a new name – the King Arthur Baking Company.

This is an interesting rebrand because the new logo actually moves away from depicting brand values, which is unusual given that most companies strive to put these traits front and center. The old logo used an illustration of the mythical King Arthur, who represented the attributes that the brand hoped to emulate: “purity, loyalty, honesty, superior strength, and a dedication to a higher purpose”. However, in addition to being visually dated, the old branding focused too much on high-level promises and too little on the actual purpose and use for the product. Now that baking has become interesting, the simplified logo that marries a crown and a stalk of wheat is much more representative of what matters to consumers today.

There is an important lesson here for brand leaders: pay attention to consumer trends and changing needs, and don’t place too much weight on traditional branding wisdom. While many companies would have leaned further into brand promises and values, King Arthur’s over-reliance on these traits made them neglect what was most important to shoppers. This rebranding is out-of-the-box, and it shows that they are really tuning into their consumers.

King Arthur Baking Company does not just deliver a flour product; rather, they are part of a greater baking experience, which is becoming a bigger part of people’s everyday lives. This new name change and logo redesign is bold, clean, and can carry the brand into the future.

In speaking with Bake, Karen Colberg, co-CEO of King Arthur Baking Company, has this to say: “The rebrand reaffirms our belief in the power of baking, and our commitment to inspiring bakers through every single touchpoint, including our teaching and our products. Our mission is rooted in building stronger communities, fostering the connections that come from baking and sharing.  The new positioning as a baking company will enable us to continue to grow and welcome all bakers, from passionate lifelong bakers to beginners.”