County Fresh Greenhouses Ltd. engaged Tugboat Group for the development of a new brand and name to support ownership's vision of a year-round greenhouse farming operation in Canada.
For County Fresh Farms, growing premium local produce is a big deal. They needed a name and position that communicated both hard and soft consumer benefits, including year-round availability of locally-grown fresh produce, joyful vitality, continual improvement, and the pursuit of excellence.
Now they are Big Marble Farms, the community-minded and sustainable Alberta greenhouse grower, producing and marketing local, premium produce year-round.
Working on location with senior stakeholders, the underpinnings of the brand and position were unearthed via visioning and affinity sessions facilitated by Tugboat strategists.
If County Fresh Greenhouses were a person, what would they be like? How would they act? What would they wear? How would they speak? If they were a watch? A vehicle? Then, of their direct or indirect competitors, who’s doing it right? Wrong? Why?
Always Growing™ is anchored in the farm’s heritage as the first year-round greenhouse grower in Alberta. It references simultaneous growth across the four pillars of the brand — Promise, Joyful Vitality, Purpose and the capacity to be Outstanding. The line is also a nod to the company’s ongoing commitment to family, community and environmental sustainability.
The company’s clear mission to build community — both directly and indirectly linked to their product — will create a dynamic, positive and growing network of people who identify with their brand promise.
Big Marble harkens back to old fashioned values while embracing technology and a fresh, global perspective. It is fun, iconic, and memorable, and clearly unique among its competitive set. Big Marble Farms' purpose is to bring outstanding local greenhouse produce to the people of Alberta every day. In other words, they're Always Growing™.
Large, round and full, the Big Marble Farms logo draws its strength from a chorus of simple attributes that cooperate predictively, but sum up uniquely, as a bold presence that represents the brand perfectly. The single colour blue spot dominates the positive space, while the rounded typeface provides a subtle retro inflection that provides the logo's depth. The graphic is punctuated with a small leaf, lending an organic appeal.
To pair with the brand identity, we designed a graphic interpretation of the Always Growing™ tagline, as well as the Farming for the Future™ slogan. Graphics and icons were also developed and trademarked, to communicate key messages on product packaging, such as country of origin, and the method of farming, in Big Marble Farms' case, greenhouses.
As the brand garnered momentum, we introduced a sustainability program complete with its own identity and supporting elements to illustrate and extoll the many sustainable benefits of greenhouse farming. The Big Marble First™ program continues to be a driving force behind the brand today.
Big Marble First is more than a sustainability program; it’s the company's mindset, their purpose, and their “why”. It places the wellbeing of the planet’s future at the forefront of all business decisions.
It’s why Big Marble Farms grows in high tech greenhouses and produces more on less arable land. It’s why they use less water, less pesticides and less energy. It’s why they feed their clean CO2 emissions to their crops and capture waste heat for reuse. It’s why they are constantly exploring innovative ideas in sustainable packaging and growing technologies.
Big Marble First is their promise to future generations to put what matters most before convenience and profit.