Musgrave Group

Rejuvenating an Irish supermarket brand for the next gen

The brief:

To create the new next gen supermarket experience for SuperValu, setting a new category standard for supermarket shopping ahead of emerging competition.

To help the brand remain as Ireland’s top food and supermarket retailer, at a time of extreme change (COVID-19) when retailers were having to dramatically rethink their approach to CX to survive and thrive.

SuperValu briefed Household to rejuvenate its brand position, identity, brand guidelines, the customer experience online and in-store, with the mission of enhancing the brand’s role in customers’ lives for food quality and modern community living.

The insight:

As we researched the target customer segments, it became clear that the supermarket trolley shop had expanded into micro-trips, destination missions, discovery missions and eat-in food experiences. This insight underpinned the move towards a ‘grocerant’ style experience bridging the gap between fresh food shopping and enjoyment of prepared food.

Our approach:

Brand experience design

Through a shared passion for food and the SuperValu smile, the brand experience is designed to be fresh, fun, modern and edgy, setting a new standard in shopping and eating experiences locally and building on SuperValu’s Irish icon heritage and active role in the community.

We designed a ‘shoppable food market’ to host quality fresh and on-trend prepared food choices. We introduced steel pavilions housing food concepts to include own-brand Caramico Pizza, Donnybrook Fair concession, and The Happy Pear vegan exclusive partnership, as well as kitchen, butcher, fishmonger, and deli concepts — creating food market theatre and sensory engagement. Each destination was designed to be easily adaptable with interchangeable elements — future-proofing the evolving food offer to changing customer tastes.

Recycled and re-purposed materials were used to set the purposeful eco-direction for kit. Open, lower fixtures elevate abundant and loose fresh produce so customers can choose to shop package-free.

Bold messages on sustainability adorn the walls, underlining commitments to customers. ‘Gridded’ fixturing hosting brand storytelling are included to consistently make it easy for customers to navigate great tastes curated by SuperValu. Value journeys are marked through yellow communications and fixtures as well as dedicated power aisles, helping customers save time and money as part of their regular shopping trip.

The off-licence shop-in-shop features digital integration through a ‘lift and learn’ table to drive dwell time and discovery. Lighting and colour punctuation guide customers through. Illuminated ceiling rafts inject energy, buzz, and destination appeal.

Click & Collect is amplified through a drive-up service located outside the store, to enable ease and choice of frictionless service journeys that truly put the customer first.

Clarity, joy, and warmth is brought to customers through rounded icons and the ‘connecting circle’ inspired from the geometric shapes of the new brand identity.

Our approach:

Brand identity

Building upon SuperValu’s existing brand essence, ‘Real Food, Real People’, we created a ‘confidently simple and connected’ brand expression. From here we set about rejuvenating the brand by focusing our language around ‘taste’ and finding deeper connections within the community. We embraced the power of SuperValu red by transitioning it to a brighter, more youthful tone. This was complemented with a reductive palette of dark and bright greens, plus a bright white.

The typography echoes this clean and modern confidence. We selected Moderate for its geometric shapes, edgy accents, and youthful twists — bringing the brand’s personality alive across all channels, UI and in-store screens — using just one typeface.

We created the SuperValu Connecting Circle as a brand mark and hallmark of what SuperValu stands for. It is expressive, signifies quality, sustainability and acts as an endorsement across all branded touchpoints — both physical and digital. The rounded icons bring clarity, joy, and warmth to shopping and new services across the board.

The result:

The store design sets a new standard for food retailing in Ireland through the radical move into prepared foods, whilst remaining a destination for the full trolley shop. The increased convenience footprint has seen an uplift of +30% on food-to-go and +60% on prepared meals. Donnybrook Fair +100%, The Happy Pear is +60% and own brand Signature Tastes is +70%. 80% of customers say the store feels more modern and is doing more to support the community, 75% feel it’s easier to shop and navigate. The store design rejuvenation is winning with customers through shared values.

“This super outcome has been delivered by our brand partner Household, with whom we have worked for a number of years. Their ability to translate our brand ambition to reality is a hugely powerful strength that they possess - they ‘get it’ all of the time.”
DJ McAllen, Development Director, Musgrave Retail Partners.

Results

Creative Retail Awards 2022

Winner of Food, Beverage & Supermarket Design Award

SuperValu Brand Rejuvenation, Knocklyon Store

Store results

The increased convenience footprint = uplift of +30% on food-to-go & +60% on prepared meals

Store results

Donnybrook Fair +100%, The Happy Pear +60%, and own brand Signature Tastes, +70%

Store results

80% of customers say the store feels more modern and is doing more to support the community

"...Their ability to translate our brand ambition to reality is a hugely powerful strength....”

DJ McAllen, Development Director, Musgrave Retail Partners.