Thorntons was "tired" and "lacking a little bit of relevancy" admits brand director as it begins transformation strategy
Thornton’s brand and customer director has admitted that the high street chocolatier's brand was “tired” in the same week that it reported a return to profit.
The brand is more modern, has a logo and corner architecture
The embattled retail brand this week posted a rise in revenue of 1.8 per cent, reaching £221.1m for figures ending in June of this year, having closed 35 high street stores in a cost cutting drive.
Speaking to The Drum, Hannah Legg, brand and customer director for Thornton’s, said of the company’s rebuilding: “We started out on a journey of revitalising our brand almost two years ago and I think at the time the brand had become a little bit tired and was lacking a little bit of relevancy all year round.
“We are very strong at Christmas and Easter but we also wanted to drive a new business investment around the important gifting opportunities; such as buying someone flowers just to say thank you or sorry, or even just to cheer that someone up with any day gifting… seeing something and thinking you can’t resist buying that for the special someone.”
She continued to explain the initial strategy: “We focussed on allowing our customers to communicate through chocolate. Chocolate isn’t the end game, it’s what they are trying to say through the chocolates. ‘Happy birthday’, ‘thank you’ and more, you’ll soon start to see more emotive side of the brand coming through.”
In releasing the latest figures, the company’s CEO Jonathan Hart, revealed that it planned to offer “ a different and personalised customer experience” having refitted 11 stores to meet its new format as part of its three-year transformation strategy.
The full interview with Legg will run on The Drum website later this week.