Insights

In this first episode of Ganado Meets Intellectual Property, Paul Micallef Grimaud, IP partner at Ganado Advocates, met up with John Winfield, founder and proprietor of the Dr. Juice business, and Peter Grech, co-founder of the strategic creative branding agency, BRND WGN. Together, they went through John’s journey in developing the brand and with Peter’s insight into brand management explained the main considerations brand owners make when developing their brand.

Starting off, the three concur with the notion that there could be no good brand without an underlying good product. In John’s case the staple product behind his brand has always been healthy foods and in particular, juices. The inspiration came to him when he was travelling in Australia and upon returning to Malta he set up a small operation. Being a pioneer in this line of food products it was rather of a gamble whether the idea would be successful or otherwise.

Peter explains that for a brand consultant, it is very important for him to be on the same journey as his client and lots of time is put into close collaboration to understand the product, how customers will react to it and the client’s intended trajectory. Understanding the market itself, the opportunities and challenges that the client may face is another fundamental aspect at the outset of brand consultancy.

John and Peter started collaborating when Dr Juice was about to enter the food market, shifting away from being exclusively a juice-based outlet. This was a critical juncture for the brand and it was important to convince the customers that the brand was able to deliver the same level of product that it had in the juice market for the food market. John remembers that one of the brand’s drawbacks in entering the food market was precisely the strong emphasis of the brand name on one particular type of food – juices. Peter helped bring a shift in the way the business conceived of the brand – where today, John admits, he would start with the Why the How and the What, whereas he had started with the What, the How and eventually got to the Why.

As competition in the market started to evolve it was important for the brand to take stock of where it wanted to position itself. In explaining how he helped take the brand to the next level, Peter connects to the basics of branding – dealing with people’s emotions. Dr. Juice’s purpose – “Powering up Potential” really lends itself to this and leads the consumer to connect with his/her view of how he/she wishes to see himself/herself moving forward. It was equally important to understand how to ensure that in an evolving competitive market, the brand is able to hit its KPI’s, whilst keeping the loyal customers engaged with the brand as it evolves.

As John maintains, the sense of “purpose” is what ultimately grounds the brand and its loyal customers. This is the one thing that should not change even though it may impact the business’s financial growth at times. In his words, purpose and his drive to ensure that this is always achieved was the reason for him maintaining sole ownership of the brand.

In the case of Dr. Juice, lots of evolvement has centered around making positive choices in favour of the environment and fostering the working environment and care for the people that work with the brand since, ultimately, they represent the brand. This sense of community has proven to be fundamental over the years. Employee loyalty is especially important in the food and beverage market where authenticity is at the basis of the product’s taste. According to John, despite trade secret protection measures that may be availed of, employee loyalty and their love for the brand is what counts; and to achieve this you need to keep investing in your people, in their growth and well-being and, ultimately, they need to feel proud of the brand.

In creating a powerful brand, Peter lays out a basic process: Discover the market; Challenge your understanding of the market and the direction that it is taking; Create the brand and Challenge yourself again until you are confident that you have bridged the gap between where the customers are and where the brand wants to be. Beyond the process, a brand is based on three fundamental pillars: its Purpose, Principles and Proposition to the market. Ultimately, the aim is to identify the “Brand Pulse” – what makes a customer want to show you off.

Looking to the future, John feels that the brand’s customers are very environment-conscious, whilst recognising that home delivery is a service that has taken the food industry by storm. To stay true to its roots of healthy, positive living, the brand has launched its reusable cup scheme, manufactured in Malta to avoid shipping pollution and finally totally recycled. This is a first for Malta and a profit-free initiative.

Peter is looking forward to the implementation of AI tools in the marketing service business, in particular as a tool for discovery and creating different hypotheses, allowing for more time and energy on the advisory and people-centric aspects of the business. The Maltese business scene is shifting, where established family businesses are passing through generational change, challenged by new entrants into the market, with other businesses moving from the start-up to the scale-up stages. And as these businesses go through these various challenges, understanding the market developments, attempting to be first-movers and consequently branding and re-branding their products, consolidating their brands with those of others, whilst remaining faithful to their purpose, will be key to their success.

To listen to the full episode, head to Spotify and search for Ganado Meets.

This article was first published in The Times of Malta on 13/10/2024.