FOOD AND RESTAURANT INDUSTRY
The Results
Clarifying Brand Focus During Rapid Expansion
We developed a cohesive brand positioning for CAVA, which became the foundation for the company’s vision as it rapidly scaled its distributed food products and QSR chain.
This work provided critical alignment, consistency and strategic direction for the entire organization, from marketing teams and culinary innovators to restaurant architects and every manager and employee across the country’s numerous locations.
The Challenges
CAVA had successfully evolved from a single full-service restaurant into a growing distributed food division with a newly flourishing QSR chain. Under the highly regarded leadership of their CEO, CAVA was recognized as one of Fast Company’s 50 MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES in 2018. The business was on a steep growth trajectory.
However, despite their remarkable overall success and very strong performance in the competitive “bowl” category, management recognized that the lack of a clear, consistent brand focus was impacting decisions on how to further scale the business.
The Strategy
Our brand immersion explored CAVA’s origins, the competitive landscape, market trends and the customer and employee evangelism to identify “why” the brand resonates with consumers.
We identified the core of the CAVA consumer bond and translated it into a clear and concise brand vision with identity guidelines that inspired the entire organization and could be consistently applied across all functions – product development, architectural design, employee management, customer experience and marketing.