Morrisons is testing out new branding to shout louder about its heritage
It’s the first time the logo has been tampered with in nearly a decade as the supermarket test out new branding at its biggest store in Leeds.
Morrisons is testing out a toned down colour scheme, which has seen it all but rid itself of the green introduced by then-chief ex-chief executive Mark Bolland in 2007 when he took the decision to remove its black and yellow palette.
It has also changed the font, moving away from the geometric style, and also used the ‘i’ in its name to form the trunk of a tree with gold leaves. The addition of ‘since 1899’ also harks back to its orgins as a butter and eggs stall established by Sir Ken Morrison’s father.
Morrisons has stressed that the fresh branding is simply to test consumer interest and will not be rolled out to other parts of the estate or used in marketing materials.
A spokesperson said: “Our recently re-launched Merrion Centre store features a variation of the Morrisons logo. We are constantly listening to customers to ensure that we reflect both their changing needs and what makes Morrisons better and different. Every part of our offer is looked at through the customers' eyes and this applies to the way we present our stores as much as it does our product and service.”
Turning thoughts to a logo refresh comes at an odd time for the supermarket, which last week posted another round of disappointing results. It's half year like-for-like sales were down 2.7 per cent prompting a 35 per cent drop in underlying profit.
To combat falling sales, the supermarket said it will be looking to make its local stores feel more personalised to help it differentiate from the discounters. It also wants to invest in more in promoting its own-brand quality proposition, particularly for ‘Made by Morrisons’.
Morrisons' rival Asda made similar strides to re-establish itself with consumers by adopting the logo of its parent company Walmart earlier this year.