Farmers World rebranding

MARKETING EXCELLENCE AWARDS 201815th November 2018Name of Firm: FARMERS WORLD LIMITEDAward Category: MOST IMPROVED BRAND OF THE YEARName of the Entry Project: FARMERS WORLD REBRANDINGDuration: JANUARY – NOVEMBER 2018Key project deliverables: 1. Develop a new brand identity – without losing existing brand heritage. 2. Successfully roll out the new image – ensure acceptance from internal and external stakeholders. 3. Build on and improve existing brand perception - in the new identity and what it represents for the organization. 4. Build brand engagement – through something innovative. 5. Media coverage – Establish the brand across every major media channel. 6. Improve financial performance.RATIONALE - WHY THE ENTRY DESERVES TO WIN THE AWARDRebranding shouldn’t be taken lightly. A brand’s perception and value is not something thatcan be changed on a whim after 30 years in business. Which is why we have put everythingbehind our rebranding to ensure the new identity is accepted and pushes the brand forwardto stand out and challenge the market. We are driving the new brand by creating reasons forinternal and external stakeholders to accept the new Farmers World identity and to changeand grow with us. We are developing strong brand awareness and meaningful associationsthrough initiatives such as the new brand look, the Tchove Tchove Race and increased activityon media channels. It’s only the first year with our new look, but we’ve hit all our key targetareas of intent laid out before the project began. Now that the foundation has beensuccessfully established, we can grow our business and other initiatives under the newidentity.Higher revenues derived from a productive and evolving company, afford us the opportunityfor an expanded footprint across the country, which means more stores and increasedemployment. And that’s our vision, to create a legacy. Please join us and follow our journeyas we condense a year’s work into a few pages.Prepared by: David LecluseGroup Marketing Manager – Farmers World Group of companies

THE BIG IDEAFarmers World has been known as “Malawi’s Growing Power” for over three decades – butlike all industry leaders, we recognized the need to innovate our brand in order to keepmoving forward. And that’s exactly what our focus has been for the past 12 months, wherewe’ve taken Farmers World from a reserved and aged ‘agricultural inputs company’ to aprogressive brand with industry first initiatives, aggressive sales promotions and a strong newbrand identity. The previous Farmers World logo had not had a revamp since its inception inthe 1990’s. The traditional/original Farmers World store is built on a basic, low cost model,stocking Agri-inputs, hardware and a very limited range of bulk stacked commodities such assugar and flour – but this was about to change. The primary target market in Malawi is lowincome, rural and high-density dwellers, most of whom have access to land to farm at asubsistence level.The rebranding started with a refreshed and revitalised logo. The application of the new logocarried through from a revamped storefront to internal and external communications, andbranding of marketing collateral (vehicles, banners, gazebo’s etc). But a logo on it’s own can’tgive the energy to the brand and business we were looking for – so we dug deeper to changethe belief and drive of the people behind the brand and how we serve our customer base toinfluence customer brand perceptions. Ultimately, it’s the way the market acknowledges orrejects the new Farmers World identity that defines the brand and business.The Farmers World rebranding project and introduction to the market has been amultifaceted and boldly executed approach, covering basic and momentous milestones in theprocess. Here’s how we went about it: - THE INPUTS -The logo – How could we take what we had and make it better? We adopted a modern circledevice that can be easily applied for multiple use across channels, this mimics a stamp, inessence giving products the FW stamp of approval. Introducing the ‘FW’ acronym encouragesbrand familiarity, assisting to position it as a lifestyle brand, with a name common in everydaylanguage. The forward slant in the font speaks to the forward-thinking and progressivedevelopment inherent in the overall rebrand. Green and Red were maintained to preservethe existing brand heritage resonant with existing customers.See Annexure A for the simple yet strong message we put out across the media, to ourcustomer base. This message was conveyed across print and radio.

Storefront overhaul – In under 3 months, we transformed 80 branches across the Central andNorthern regions. But transformation went deeper than the storefront, to improved lighting,merchandising and product selection. On the existing buildings, a cluttered shopfront wasdiluting brand visibility and customer perception, which we were quick to address on the newshopfronts.

Improved customer experience - The competitive landscape inwhich FW trades hasn’t changed significantly, other than the factthat price (value for money) is more important than ever, and our competitors, with their low-cost operating models, compete aggressively in a continual fight for customers dwindlingspend. So what will differentiate FW? The customer experience. With small changes –improved lighting in-store and refocused floor layouts to attain uncluttered shopping spacewe went after improving experience and the sense of retail satisfaction. Shop staff arebranded and better trained – knowledgeable on their SKU’s and focused on customerretention through service.Upskilling staff – For the month of March, senior FW management (GM, Finance, Operations,Marketing, Procurement, Merchandising) met with and engaged Branch Managers on the‘Farmers World road-show’ to define and train managers on these important aspects of thebusiness and to align everyone with the vision and expectations for the new FW, in-time forthe start of the new financial year. The theme was ‘ONE TEAM ONE GOAL’ and we playedteam building centric games at each meeting, to stimulate team work at branch level andbetween branches and head office.

Connecting with our target market – A short survey revealeddemand for basic Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) in selectFarmers World stores. We acted on this and introduced lines such as washing powder,Carlsberg/SOBO and food items in 18 stores, to contribute to a complete shopping basketoutside of agri-inputs and hardware. A re-energised logo also required a refocused approachto sales strategies. We are extremely agile in our sales model; quick to refocus prices in theface of competition and running month-end sales promotions in strategic months. Our latestpromotion saw FW partnering with Carlsberg to giveaway 18 bicycles.Brand extension – Moving on the momentum of the rebrand, we launched a new shoppingexperience called Savemart. Savemart is a no frills, low-cost grocery shopping experience andoperates out of a separate storefront to Farmers World. We currently have two stores andplan to expand next year.

Tchove Tchove Race – in what the media has dubbed “Malawi’sbiggest cycle race” we further sought to connect with our customersat a grass roots level by introducing the Tchove Tchove Race. This is a free entry, fun filledcommunity event, primarily aimed at the Kabaza riders which we ran in October 2018. It’s ourrecognition of the Kabaza riders that are an important part of our business (buying bicyclesand carrying goods from our stores) and a celebration of one of Malawi’s main modes of ruraltransport. It’s also an upliftment of community through sport where we we poured K14million into it’s organisation and wide ranging prize purse. Held over 6 districts with over 600riders, it’s been a massive success. We believe the Tchove Tchove Race to be a first of it’s kindand it has had a profound impact on developing brand awareness (to the new FW) through ameaningful association.To see more pictures, please visit our Facebook page here –https://www.facebook.com/FarmersWorldMalawi

-THE OUTPUTS -“Develop a new brand identity – without losing existing brand heritage.” The new identity hasbeen accepted and in-fact welcomed by customers, according to staff in the branches.Customers view it as a positive change in direction, and the new initiatives (Tchove Tchove,FMCG) have come through to support the market sentiments around the rebrand.“Successfully roll out the new image – ensure acceptance from internal and externalstakeholders.” Stakeholder buy-in to the new identity; internally (FW staff) externally(customers and suppliers) has been positive. Recognising the positive change in strategy andpotential for increased volumes, suppliers are approaching FW to find out how they canpartner in our upcoming initiatives to maximize their brand exposure and sales through ourstores.“Build on and improve existing brand perception - in the new identity and what it representsfor the organization.” Staff are eager to get involved with the new initiatives and applaudthem; eagerly waiting for next year to see what is in store. Click here to see the FWNewsletter which keeps employees up to date with current FW events -http://pubhtml5.com/gkhu/piuj/“Build brand engagement – through something innovative.” The Tchove Tchove Race hit thatmark with exposure across multiple media channels and applause from stakeholders in andout of the districts where the races were held.“Media coverage – Establish the brand across every major media channel.” Farmers Worldhas been enjoying increased media coverage around the work done with the brand includinga visit from His Excellency, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika the President of the Republic ofMalawi at the Agricultural show in Blantyre.“Improve financial performance” Year to Date we are currently sitting at a double digitincrease in sales revenue as compared to last year. This is part and parcel of the overarchingstrategy for the business and all the rebranding efforts that have gone into the brand thisyear.Thank you for reading through this entry and joining us for a part of our journey.

Annexure A