A brand is a company's most valuable asset and Clover has consistently emerged as a leading brand both locally and internationally. This year, the company was amongst the top 10 most-admired brands in South Africa and one of the top 10 favourite food brands, proving stronger than several iconic brands like Sasol, Castle Lager and SABC. (Source: Sunday Times/Markinor Top Brands Survey, 2004).
During its journey into the 21st century, Clover has established itself as both a trusted supplier of quality products, as well as a lifestyle brand. Milward Brown-Impact was commissioned to conduct strategic research that would determine the direction of this evolution of the brand.
The research resulted in Clover being categorised as an 'Olympic brand' or 'blue chip' company alongside global brands like Coca Cola. It was then apparent, that the restructuring process to be undertaken had to remain consistent with this status.
Clover now boasts a new, progressive corporate identity, upgraded and re-engineered packaging, and more striking visual impact and differentiation on the shelf. In terms of the logo, all the positive attributes of the old logo have been retained, but modernised. The three-leaf clover has been removed from its constricting oval frame to give it an open and inviting effect. It has also been crafted at the same angle as the Clover logo typeface, creating a fluid and cohesive unit.
The forward slant of the three-leaf clover and typeface reflects the progressive and nurturing nature of the company. The typeface has also been modernised and the entire logo enhanced with three-dimensionality for greater impact.
Clover has also scrutinised the alignment of their brands and sub-brands, with the result that some categories have been streamlined, with smaller brands migrating to the Clover mother brand. High volume dairy products now carry the Proudly South African logo, (Clover became a member earlier this year), while colour-coding of dairy product types helps the consumer differentiate between them (e.g. between low fat milk and full cream; between pouring cream and whipping cream).
Clover has regarded the re-launch of their corporate identity as an ideal opportunity to introduce several innovations and variants across the board. New on the shelf are: Life Fruit Nectar, Manhattan Green Ice Tea, Tropika Smoove and the packaging for cheese, milk and cream, to mention a few.
As it is entering a new phase in its history, Clover continues to uphold the values and attributes that have been intrinsic to the company during its 105-year old existence. And, when considering that the average life span of a company is only 20 years, the Clover success story is all the greater.
