Carhartt Vineyards, blowin’ in the wind

Established in the early years of last century, Rancho Los Olivos is a Santa Ynez Valley landmark spread among the old Valley oaks. The 3rd generation owners felt the time had come to step up from the old label which marked their premium wines. The industry is full of idiosyncratic labels, very few of which address the challenges of standing out from a wall of wine in a retail environment. The team at Mark Oliver, Inc. considered telling the story of the Rancho because it was distinctive. But where were the visual story-telling elements that would allow us to brand the wines individually and as group and appeal to consumers?

We found the answer on a blustery day by looking up. We heard noises coming from the rooftops of various barns and outbuildings. And there was the answer: a vast array of shapes and sizes of distinctive animal weathervanes turning to face the wind. The rest was a breeze.

new labels

old label
Old Carhartt Wine Label

McConnell’s ice cream, pure and simplified.

We are inevitably surprised and pleased when a client shows up in our own backyard, in this case neighboring Santa Barbara. Our clients are usually based elsewhere in the country. So we looked forward to working with the former king of ice cream in the southland.

The overall company objective was to rebuild the venerable 60 year-old brand after years of declining sales. This was a company-wide activity but an emphasis was placed on new packaging. Among other things, our research showed that consumers of super-premium ice creams owned a growing preference for products with pure, simple, identifiable ingredients. And as we discovered, McConnell’s was in the enviable position of being able to capitalize on the desire of consumers for simpler and healthier food without having to do anything differently in how its products were manufactured.

This was an exceptional opportunity and we pitched the client on taking advantage of this new information. As differentiation of a product from its competitors at many levels is a key to success, we proposed completely new product positioning, branding, and packaging. The client agreed and the result you can see here.

old packaging