The Visual Remodeling of the Trademark and Packaging of "Meet the Happy Farm"

Neer Chuang （China Productivity Center Smart Agriculture Promotion Department）

The Council of Agriculture (COA) of the Executive Yuan has been assisting young people to return to their hometowns for agricultural careers and hosting the Top 100 Young Farmers Award program for five times. In addition to assisting the multi-faceted acquisition by young farmers of the latest agricultural information and inviting professionals as consultants to the young farmers, COA also helps young farmers to develop brand awareness and knowledge in agricultural product packaging through all the stages of initial knowledge, guided design, and integrating product packaging to facilitate the negotiation with the marketing channels to achieve effective sales expansion and enhance opportunities for cooperation and development.

For the consultation to young farmers in terms of trademark design and packaging concepts, the writer would discuss the issues of brand positioning, product items, place of origin, characteristics, capacity, specifications, quality certification, marketing channel setting, etc. based on the design needs of the young farmers. The summarization of the product characteristics can serve as the basis for naming used on packaging, graphic designs, and the use of materials, shapes, and colors so as to design the trademark and packaging for marketing purposes.

The following is the case of a young farmer from Jiusheng Farm in Pingtung, Mr. Hu Chien-Yu, who re-designed the trademark and packaging of his agricultural products.

1. The young farmer’s ideal: Be earth friendly and provide high quality agricultural products for safe consumption

Mr. Hu Yu-Chien, a young farmer from Guantian District, Tainan City, grew up on a farm, where his parents grew mangos, rice, water chestnut and other crops, while Hu Yu-Chien himself took up the job of a technician of plastic injection for vehicle lights. He helped his parents on the farm only during his leisure time. He was considering a career breakthrough when his father happened to get injured in a car accident taking his children to school. Hu Yu-Chien then decided to quit his job and return home in Guantian to work on the farm, so he could have more flexible time to take care of his family. After he took over, he learned from elders in the neighborhood the techniques to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and other fruits and vegetables. With growing experience, he learned to make adjustment on the planting of crops, vegetables and fruit trees based on seasonal changes so as to enlarge the variety of the plants. He also gradually learned about time management in the field, the use of funds, and the marketing skills. The problem is his failure to focus on his own products when marketing as there is no brand planning.

The name "Meet the Happy Farm" pronounces the same in Chinese Mandarin as the name of Yu-Chien. The name is adopted with the hope that the consumers can appreciate the farmers’ simplicity of mind, passion for the land, and sincerity towards people. The Hu family carefully manage their crops and strictly follow the regulations on the use of pesticide to ensure the food safety of the consumers.

• Major crops: Koshihikari rice (February to June, August to December), sesame (September to January), mango (June to August)

• Place of Origin: Guantian District, Tainan City

• Sales: Facebook fan page "Meet the Happy Farm", Farmer’s Market.

2. Product positioning analysis

Target market: Consumer groups desiring health and safe food sources.

Profile of the target group: People who opt for high-quality agricultural products, food safety and health (between 25-60 years of age).

3. Implementation methods and procedures

Market survey and brand evaluation are conducted based on the data of the young farmers, their products and production characteristics, followed by reorganization and face-to-face communication in order to make itemized recommendations. Based on market needs, trademark suggestions are proposed and follow-up communication proceeds in the following sequence: brand and trademark design, trademark vision identity system planning, product packaging, capacity consideration, layout design, box-shape die-cut mold and proofing, and integrated finalization.

4. Background of brand and trademark demand

"Meet the Happy Farm" had its name and spirit displayed in the original trademark in a concise manner, which did not make a strong distinction between main and objective points, therefore unable to convey the key points and appeals of the brand. In order to incorporate subsequent diversified products in the planning for integrated future marketing and packaging design to achieve overall consistency, integrated redesigning is implemented.

• Positioning: "Meet the Happy Farm" insists on safe planting and pesticide-free cultivation so that planting follows the natural laws of climate and seasons.

• Innovation: Improve the soil with the water chestnut shell charcoal to neutralize the pH value of the soil before rice planting.

• Tonality: Through the integrated design of the trademark, product packaging, carrying bag, and the product content, the brand positioning and appeal is made clear: "food safety, security, and sustainable management."

5. Rebranding

• Trademark design:

As the products of the "Meet the Happy Farm", rice, mangos, sesame, etc. are all traditional crops, the classic calligraphic “Kai” style is used to convey a sense of simplicity and reality. The freehand light green brush is used to present the pattern of a heart of love to convey "Safe farming, safe products" to the consumers. The map of the location of the farm is displayed in a color block, with the characters “Happy” presented in red in the embedment. It signifies the farmer’s sincerity in treating people and dedication to managing crops.

• Agricultural product packaging

After Hu took over the farming from his parents, he was fully devoted to the cultivation. After joining the 4th Top 100 Young Farmers Award competition, he developed the awareness of the importance of brand identity. Guantian is famous for water chestnuts. After the harvest on "Meet the Happy Farm", the shells will be dried and processed into “water chestnut shell charcoal“ which is used to improve the soil quality and neutralize the pH value to facilitate rice cultivation.

After the harvest of sesame between September and January every year, sesame oil is made with the classic method. The sesame oil made of traditional self-grown sesame on "Meet the Happy Farm", adheres to traditional attributes. On the packaging, the classic calligraphic “Kai” style in sky blue used for the name of the product conveys a sense of simplicity and reality. It is in strong contrast with the golden color of the oil. The sesame seeds are drawn to spray upwards like oil droplets, and they match with the lines like rays of the shining sun. This helps consumers build connections with the origin of the oil, displaying the farmers’ honest planting and hand-made skills.

The brand packaging colors are extended in the design of: rhombus rice stickers, sesame oil packaging, and Meet the Happy mango packaging.

• Meets the Happy Farm Facebook Fan Group

The different crops on Meets the Happy Farm throughout the year are used as the base on the webpage banner, which shows the integration of the products with the seasons, the core of the farm’s philosophy.

6. Conclusion

Based on this consultation case, Meets the Happy Farm has applied for trademark registration. The marketing channels are no longer limited to farmers’ market, but have extended to stores and, with its stable quality, even to sales through farming contract with large enterprises. It is also actively expanding the sales of processed products and the extended use of packaging. Currently, the fan page planning is gradually being completed and online sales are actively being carried out. The brand establishment of agricultural products relies not only on trademarks and packaging, but also on active exposure through marketing techniques and activities, so as to deepen the customer stickiness to maintain a stable brand image. Here the heartfelt best wishes are extended to Meets the Happy Farm for its continued steady development of its ever-enhancing high-quality agricultural power.

The current physical sales points: Farmer’s Market, Medick Market.

Online sales points: Meet the Happy Farm on Facebook fan page, Ruten, Shopee, PChome Marketplace