PORTLAND, Ore. -- Boyd Coffee Co. has launched a comprehensive strategic rebrand featuring new brand identity, retail coffee packaging and foodservice merchandising for convenience stores, restaurants, hotels, hospitals and more. The grocery and foodservice launch is the first step in a company-wide rebranding campaign undertaken by the 113-year old coffee company.
"We wanted brand imagery that connected Boyd's rich history of innovation and passion in the coffee industry to today's consumer expectations around coffee excellence, without being presumptuous or smug about the care and quality that goes into every bean. After all, enjoying your coffee and whole experience is really what it's all about," said CEO and president Jeffrey Newman.
The rebrand draws on imagery and graphic elements from the extensive Boyd Coffee Co. archives as well as vintage photographs from Ray Atkeson, Thomas Robinson and the University of Oregon archives. The black-and-white images featured on the retail coffee packaging and foodservice merchandising either reflect Boyd's own history such as the original location at 423 ½ SW Morrison or iconic Oregon images including the historic Columbia River Gorge Highway, the Broadway Theater and the Streamliner train.
"With the design, we were hoping that consumers could experience Boyd's rich heritage and the city and region that inspired the generations who grew up on Boyd's Coffee. We also wanted the experience to reflect the company's status as the longest-operating coffee roaster in the Pacific Northwest," said Michael Connell, founder and chief creative at Commonwealth, the agency that collaborated with the Boyd's team on the rebranding effort.
"Boyd's introduced espresso coffee drinks to the Northwest as early as 1965 and was the first to offer certified organic coffee in the late 1980s; we wanted to capture a sense of their history and innovation, connecting it with what's relevant today with the rebrand," he said.
When rebranding the century-old company, Commonwealth asked the team to reflect on what makes them unique. "We found a company-wide authenticity that embraced Boyd's mission of making a good cup of coffee for the 'everyman' coffee drinker."
With this premise at the core of the rebrand, the Commonwealth team created the tagline and positioning statement that "Boyd's Coffee is Fuel. Not Fashion." They also took a playful approach to designing new retail coffee bags and foodservice collateral. The coffee bags feature whimsical instructions for how to tie a common necktie along with more practical steps how to brew the best cup of coffee. There is also a timeline with milestones from Boyd's history, as well as world and regional events. One such milestone for 1964 states, "A very fertile year for Boyd's, they introduce Flav-R-Flo, a cone and paper filter pour-over system for the home. And you thought pour-over was a recent craze."
"Commonwealth did an amazing job making our brand resonate with not only our loyal, longtime customers but also Oregon transplants searching for a local company that reflects the entrepreneurial spirit found in the West," said Michael Boyd, fourth-generation family member and coffee buyer. "Boyd's has always put innovation first. We helped to invent the first airpot brewing system and were the first to have organic and Rainforest Alliance coffee certification. Our rebrand is a renaissance for our company and reminds us why we are proud to be Boyd's."
Boyd's Coffee is one of the oldest family-owned coffee companies in the world. Founded in 1900 in Portland, Ore., Boyd's has a long, storied history of helping restaurants, hotels and c-stores attract and keep customers by providing them with consistently excellent coffee, tea and other beverages.
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