Special Group New Zealand Turns Rockit into the Rockstar of the Apple World

Miniature apple brand Rockit has unveiled a fresh new brand identity, created by Special Group New Zealand.

The new brand is designed to work across all the company’s touchpoints, including a new logomark and identity, packaging, cartons, website, digital content, signage, livery and even some pack-house shirts.

Rockit is the world’s first miniature apple (as recognised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) and helps everyone from kids to elite athletes to ‘Rockit’ every day. Convenient and healthy, they come in a handy recyclable tube. This modern approach to apples is designed to stand out across all platforms in all relevant markets in China, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

“We needed Rockit to break the mould and stand out,” said Julian Smith, GM of global marketing. “Rockit apples are premium, so we needed a brand that reflects our premium price positioning, whilst also engaging with the health-conscious parent.”

“We didn’t want a design ecosystem that compared apples with apples, so we needed a creative partner that could help us really stand out. That’s why we’re so pleased to have partnered with Special Group, who have helped us turn Rockit into the Rockstar of the apple world. We are exceeding our export volume and price targets for the year, up 43 % in global markets volume on 2020.”

The branding and design work has come at a pivotal moment for Rockit Global which has quickly expanded into 30 markets, and is predicted to sell well over 400 million apples per year by 2025.

The identity refresh has seen a new range of iconic symbols created, derived from the typography of the new word mark. Ranging  from the more descriptive (such as apples, leaves and blossoms) to the more symbolic (such as a lightning bolt, star and exclamation mark), illustrations represent the brand’s energy and attitudinal purpose. The new colour palette reflects the natural environment where Rockit apples are grown and the seasonal colour changes of flora and land throughout the year.

“We really wanted to create an identity that proves these apples have attitude,” said Richard Francis, design director at Special Group. “Visually, we needed to communicate this energy, while also amplifying our cheeky challenger mindset to make the brand inspiring for parents, engaging for kids, and different to anything the category had seen before.”

Heath Lowe, founder and executive design director at Special Group, added: “Rockit are one of our dream clients – they are a modern, entrepreneurial Kiwi success story, and we were excited for the opportunity to create a fresh new brand for such an innovative company. A company which is going from strength-to-strength, and resonating in markets from Australia to China to Dubai.”

For more information on Rockit Apples, please visit here.