This is where Hornet came in. Through our director-driven model, we enlisted the talents of César Pelizer to bring his one-of-a-kind authorship style to the Kroger ecosystem. From there, we built an iterative production pipeline around his vision to ensure we were always one step ahead of the client’s wishes and needs. The result was a full-bodied campaign that, in many ways, signaled the start of a new era for the nation’s second-largest retailer.

Kroger has come a long way since opening its doors in 1883. Today, it’s the largest supermarket chain by revenue in America ($121 billion for fiscal year 2019), the 4th largest general retailer in the world, and the 17th biggest company on the Forbes 500 list. Nine million people shop at Kroger each day across 2,800 stores in 35 states. In other words, Kroger’s brand transformation needed to be comparably sizable.

Prior to July 2019, Kroger had never worked with an agency of record before. But, knowing how much creative cohesion would be required for a rebrand, they spent five months meticulously searching for the right agency fit. Ultimately, they chose DDB New York, and part of this decision was because of early collaboration between Hornet and DDB in the bidding phase to incorporate character work from Hornet’s César Pelizer in the reference documents.

Kroger’s goal was to tell an inclusive story about their commitment to food that’s “Fresh for Everyone.” To do so, they needed to create a look and feel that wasn't just original, but also emblematic of the diversity of Kroger's millions of customers. They needed instantly ownable characters that would transcend economic and social strata and be appealing to shoppers all across the country, from trendy cities like L.A. and Atlanta to rural places like Lansing and Roanoke. We knew César’s style—with his buoyant, friendly, and totally relatable cast of characters—would make him the perfect director to pull this off.

César’s commitment to capturing the diversity of Kroger’s customers led to the creation of what became known as “Kroji’s”, a mashup of “Kroger'' and “emojis.” By the end of the campaign, more than 100 of these characters were propagated across Kroger’s advertising channels. According to Kroger’s new brand attributes, “The Kroji animation features a lovable cast of characters to represent Kroger customers, associates, and communities in an inclusive, relatable, optimistic, and fun way.”

In terms of propagation, the scope was staggering. There were in-store print materials, out-of-home billboards, rebranded shopping bags and employee aprons, social media assets, and a 30-second TV anthem spot. The TV spot was broadcasted on television networks across the country and executed by Hornet’s in-house team of CG animators over the course of 6 weeks. In later roll-outs, Hornet also delivered a 30-second holiday spot and another 30-second spot for Kroger’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste campaign.

Additionally, one of the most dynamic and interactive deliverables was the toolkit that Hornet provided. Within this toolkit was a robust library of assets—roughly 150 characters and an additional 75 props—that could be used by every Kroger subsidiary store. Effectively, each store was given access to pre-set character files, approved by Hornet and Kroger, that they could then render and print to create thousands of different print pieces at their own discretion, allowing them to work more nimbly. From Hornet’s standpoint, the toolkit also meant we could repurpose various assets to turn around new projects really quickly.

Successful rebrands can only happen when every detail comes together just right. Like a jigsaw, if one piece is missing, the collective whole becomes incomplete, sometimes even unrecognizable. In the case of Kroger’s rebrand, no piece went missing. Between the client’s optimism, DDB’s ingenuity, and Hornet’s creative horsepower, the success of the brand transformation was down to both a shared vision of the macro and a fierce implementation of the micro. Supporting the collective vision was a production pipeline that ensured everything came together on schedule—but more than this, it all came together on brand.

It’s a formula that led to some very tangible wins in the immediate aftermath of the rebrand. Media outlets like CNBC, Ad Age, Business Insider, and Forbes covered the story. And maybe most tellingly of all, Kroger’s stock prices rose a significant three points on the day following the rebrand. If that’s not a sign of a rebrand considered fresh for everyone, then you have to wonder what is.