Little Chef by venturethree

CLIENT

Britain’s most famous nationwide roadside restaurant. Festival goers, holidaying families, Rod and Doreen on their way to the seaside—their audience is everybody on the road.

BRIEF

Over the years, travelers’ needs changed and Little Chef didn’t. Somewhat neglected and underinvested, Little Chef lost its place as the nation’s favorite place to stop. But the essence of Little Chef is more relevant today than ever—great quality food, made just for you. The job was to reinvent Little Chef while respecting the heritage and loyal customer base it already had.

APPROACH

The essence of the new brand is “Wonderfully British” and it runs through everything. Little Chef and red go hand-in-hand, but why stop at ketchup red when you can have mushy pea green, raspberry ripple pink, English mustard yellow, and baked bean orange? As well as the visual identity, we made sure that the British sense of humor came through in the tone of all our communications—everything from the menu to the packaging. This, coupled with bold type and the logo, gave a fresh, bold new lease on life to the brand.

venturethree understood the target audience and the customer journey. They retained the strong brand DNA that existed in the old Little Chef identity, and created something new and modern that signaled change. They created a brand that lived in the new restaurants, but also took elements from the new brand throughout the entire estate.

Customer feedback was excellent. The tone of voice, in particular, has been very warmly received. The rebrand has ignited a sense of energy into the business; the staff feel proud to be a part of it. The new restaurants saw a consistent uplift of 12% or more compared to the rest of the estate. The rebrand retained previous customers and attracted new ones too. — Susanna Ratcliffe, Consultant