Small business owner, graphic designer, article writer & blogger. Marnie lives on the Central Coast of New South Wales and spends most of her day doodling in Illustrator, liasing with clients and trying to keep from having 'just one more' bottle of delicious but addictive V. 
Woolworths Rebrand
Last month Australian supermarket giant Woolworths unveiled plans to rebrand its chain of popular supermarkets. This is the first update to the Woolworths brand since it introducted The Fresh Food People slogan, and I have to admit, it is quite a shock to see. While the new logo has its flaws, it is much more kind on the eyes than the bright red and green logo and branding we have all come to recognise.
In a press release dated 22nd August, Woolworths General Manager of Marketing, Luke Dunkerley, said that Woolworths has decided to rebrand to retain their leadership position in what is an extremely competitive market. He also announced that the refurbishment of the supermarkets to roll out the new branding will also include some bonuses: wider aisles and brighter supermarkets.
The first store to carry the rebranding is Mona Vale Woolworths on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with a
selection of other stores to be rebranded over the coming months.
All Safeway supermarkets across Victoria will also be gradually rebranded Woolworths. “This will in fact be the return to Victoria of the Woolworths brand as it first appeared as early as 1933 on a
store in Melbourne’s Bourke Street.”
The rebrand also coincides with the release of both Woolworths’ Everyday Money credit card and the Woolworths’ Select premium private label range.
The new branding has been worked on by leading Australian designer, Hans Hulsbosch, who won the pitch over Ken Cato. Hulsbosch has worked on major brands such as Quantas, P&O Cruises, Taronga Zoo and Free TV Australia.
According to Hans, the new icon represents (amongst other things):
- A ‘W’ for Woolworths
- Fresh produce indicates ‘fresh food’
- The icon represents people - the upper body of a person with outstretched arms
- Green is the colour of nature, growth and organic freshness
I’ve noticed that out of everything I’ve read about the new branding, there is no mention of an apple, which is what I saw the very first time I saw the logo.
So, I ask you: what do you see? An apple or a person with outstretched arms? Do you think this is going to impact negatively or positively on the Woolworths brand? What do you think of the design itself? Leave a comment or check out the poll.
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Tags: branding, famous logos, Logo design, woolworths
September 4th, 2008 at 1:59 am
Are they joking? A person with out stretched arms? That really is clutching at straws! Whilst I don’t hate the logo I can’t say that I love it. What it certainly does say is that Woolworths feels strong enough in their market place to do a drastic rebrand, which I think is bold and brave. So I applaud them for that!
September 4th, 2008 at 9:33 am
I agree. It’s almost as if they’ve thought of that AFTER the logo was designed. To me it just looks like an apple made out of an apple peel. True, though - a very brave move. I wonder how the older half of the population will take it.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Woolworths Australia Rebrand…
Last month Australian supermarket giant Woolworths unveiled plans to rebrand its chain of popular supermarkets. This is the first update to the Woolworths brand since it introducted The Fresh Food People slogan, and I have to admit, it is quite a shock…
September 5th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I have to agree with Marnie. My first thought was that the logo is an apple made from apple peel. It looks nothing like a person with outstretched arms. The whole logo feels kind of bulky to me, and doesn’t really scream supermarket. I’ve never been to this store before though, so maybe it suits it and I’m not aware. *shrug*
September 11th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
That is so totally an apple, it looks nothing like a person. It’s like they are having a joke by saying it’s a person.
I love it and think the icon is really really good (as an apple that is!).
This is my first comment - I love your blog design by the way, you can’t beat pink and brown.
xx