RVAg
RVAg came to Red Orange as our 2020 PIP award recipient. A nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, RVAg operates without any local or federal funding has limited funds to invest in brand. Their mission is to create vibrant venues for farmers and artisans so they can offer products directly to consumers in order to cultivate community engagement using local food as a common link. The organization strives to be a catalyst for change in people’s lives by raising social consciousness about the importance of local foods and farming and their critical link to building healthy, sustainable communities.
With six different markets throughout the Richmond region — Manakin Market, Cartersville Farm and Art Market, OnTheSquareVA Farmers Market, Powhatan Village Farmers Market, Farmers Market at Urban Farmhouse and Goochland Farmers Market – plus an online marketplace, RVAg needed a unified brand strategy and consistent brand architecture.
Creative Services
Brand Strategy
Logo Design
Services provided by PIP Partners:
Video
Ethnographic Research
Qualitative Research
Collaborative Approach
This project kicked off in spring 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic was creating a shift in the way consumers shopped for everything from toilet paper to vegetables. The team at Red Orange had recently identified three local agencies who were eager to help support The PIP Project and partner with us to create an even greater impact for RVAg and the community.
Solution
Thanks to our PIP Partners at Journey Seven, RVAg was positioned to promote their new online market with a video that demonstrated the importance and safety of buying local produce.
Our PIP Partners at Feedback conducted digital ethnographic research to discover the RVAg brand sentiment, the market specific sentiment and the behavior of farmers market vendors and shoppers in the Richmond regions. This valuable research helped inform the brand strategy.
Red Orange Studio built upon the foundation of the digital research to develop a brand strategy that helps convey growing and cultivating – not only of healthy food, but of healthy communities. The strength and simplicity of the new mark functions well as the parent brand. We then created marks for each of the six markets that provided visual consistency and a stronger connection to the parent brand while allowing each market to maintain a unique identity.
Finally, our PIP Partners at Good Run Research conducted qualitative research that explored vendor and shopper perceptions of RVAg and helped the organization position itself for growth.
Outcome
Red Orange and our PIP Partners gave the team at RVAg the tools they needed to not only respond to the Covid-19 crisis but to shift and grow as a valued community builder. The brand strategy and brand architecture have provided the framework and foundation needed to build upon as they expand in 2021 and beyond.
“When I heard about the PIP award, I knew right away that RVAg would be a great fit. Being in agriculture, I knew what a pip was already…I‘ve been planting seeds for years! Small seeds of hope that are planted in the farmers market world can have far reaching branches; whether it’s the seed of an idea for a recipe that grows into a meal; or the seed that ripens as a new market vendor grows his or her farm stand into a successful flourishing business.
With six farmers markets, an online marketplace, and educational programs that focus on food and farming, the timing was right to refresh our brand. I’m confident that together, we are growing the RVAg brand to become a household name within Central Virginia and beyond, and that the seeds we have already sown and continue to sew will bear the fruit of our labor of love for future generations to harvest.”
-Lisa Deadon, Executive Director