Responsibilities
• Brand concept
• Logo design
• Application design (web etc.)
• Brand architecture on pack
• Brand consultation
• Corporate design manual

Background
Kikkoman Corporation is a food company representing Japan and was established in 1917. Since then they globally launched their main product, the Kikkoman soy sauce, in over 100 countries. Today half of their profit is from overseas and they have reached 50% of the global market share. Beside the soy sauce business, the Kikkoman Group’s business includes various seasonings, health food, biotechnology, wines, the Del Monte business, the Coca-Cola business, and the business areas still keep expanding. As a globally growing company Kikkoman needs to restructure their brand to be able to fulfill the needs of their global customers.

Challenge
According to a brand survey the customer perceive the Kikkoman Group as “traditional and stable” but “with a lack of vigor and too conservative”. For the Japanese the Kikkoman Group is so close to their daily life, that they don’t really recognize it anymore. In addition to this, 82% relate the brand to the soy sauce product, although they do have a wide range of other products on the market. Landor proposed the concept of the “Unity of Tradition and Innovation”, by keeping the strong traditional element and combining it with new innovative thinking.

Solution
The goal was to aim for a branding solution to gain the sympathy of the customers rather than just surprising them. From the survey we found out that the main touch point of the brand with the customer is the packaging design (69%) and not commercials (64%). Wherever they see the brand in their daily life, in the supermarket, in their homes, they should associate the delicious-ness of food with it.
We proposed to keep the traditional hexagon and combine it with a soft all lower case logo to symbolize kindness, warmth, approachability and so show Kikkoman’s dedication to harnessing both innovation and tradition.
The design concept is “heart to heart communication.”
The joys of food and a healthy body and mind are expressed in a gentle, easygoing manner. The corporate color, orange, stands for a good health, youthfulness and vitality. It evokes images of the sun, flames, the earth, a good harvest, while at the same time providing a feeling of liberation and a whetted appetite.

*Project during my time at LANDOR