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Consumer Valued Verified

CV2: Launching a New Values Driven Certification Program
Consumers increasingly want to know the source of their food and to be assured of its integrity. This desire drives the need for new labels and professional third-party verification programs for those labels. 

The Challenge

Question: How to bring consumers the trust they want in labeling claims?
Answer: Create an entirely new verification division with fresh name, fresh brand and fresh certification offerings. Hire FIG to do branding and national launch in less than one year.

Consumers increasingly want to know the source of their food and to be assured of its integrity. This desire drives the need for new labels and professional third-party verification programs for those labels. At the forefront of this consumer trend is NSF International and its portfolio of verification and assurance programs. NSF Ag, based in San Diego, along with sister company, QAI, is poised to grow as a result of this marketplace trend. NSF decided to create a new “LOHAS” focused division that would serve as an umbrella for new and emerging categories of concern for today’s curious consumer. Under this umbrella reside the True North “NSF Non-GMO/GE” label, as well as Kosher, NSF International Certified Gluten-Free, and True Source Honey. Moving forward, this division will launch additional third-party verification and certification programs. FIG was brought on board in June 2014 to help define the brand story, name the division, and craft and implement a plan to ensure a successful launch. In general, certification can be seen as a “necessary evil” and we endeavored to “bring love to a loveless industry.”

The Solution

Identify a Compelling and Descriptive Name: Through a branding workshop and collaboration with the NSF marketing team, we settled on “Consumer Values Verified” (CV2) as the name of the new division. This captured the process of certification with a more compelling word – verification – and showed the importance of consumer values driving the need for these certifications.

Develop the Brand Identity: We created the visual and written brand identity for CV2 including: new logos, key messaging, marketing collateral materials, business cards, and a trade booth.

Design an Umbrella of Certification Awareness: We developed and executed a campaign to create awareness around CV2 and its areas of expertise. We strove to show what differentiates CV2 by “bringing love to a loveless industry”. We educated the broader target market on the necessities of certification and the desire consumers have for transparency on key topics.

Refreshing Results

  • A compelling and new brand identity, story and guide that can be used by every employee of CV2. Not only does it include the visual and design elements, but also messaging and language to integrate into every communication of the brand.
  • Successful launch of Consumer Values Verified to media and potential clients at Chicago’s FMI Connect. The show provided a launchpad for this new business unit which was created in response to consumer demand for improved transparency and trustworthiness in product sourcing and production practice claims.
  • Perhaps best sign of success is three other NSF divisions now wish to go through the same FIG Brand Story Archetype process to ‘refresh’ how they tell their own true story.

Examples of Coverage