Blake Marquis | Dec. 22 2020
Bumble Bee Seafoods is one of the most iconic brands in American history, known widely for its tuna, especially. As it was gearing up to have one of its most transformative years yet, it was time to modernize its digital presence without losing its legacy—to create some visual firepower that shows just how much the brand cares about its products and its consumers, and how well it understands what they want.
Their corporate and consumer-facing websites were the first to demand revitalization—the two central lines of communication that speak directly to the brand’s overarching values and the multi-faceted benefits of its products. With the right visual tools, we could bridge who they have been for decades with who they are today, and speak to a whole new generation of “tunaficionados.”
We began by working off of a strong brand platform that was established by our internal strategy and creative teams—“Tuna Proudly”—which influenced everything, from the brand’s entire digital presence to our Yes! Bumble Bee! campaign to Bumble Bee’s own internal office design:
With “Tuna Proudly” serving as a firm foundation, we began crafting a new visual identity for Bumble Bee’s consumer-facing brand that would convey the accessibility, approachability and sustainability central to Bumble Bee. Staying true to its legacy, we worked with a palette of rich reds, blues and other flavorful colors to create fresh brand equities for the future—updated typography, photography, animation and iconic badges that came together in a full suite of eye-popping images to develop Bumble Bee’s consumer-facing brand book:
The progressive brand evolution of Bumble Bee continued to make a splash with the launch of the all new bumblebee.com. For this new consumer website, we took a deep dive into all of the reasons why tuna is the superest of superfoods (with a mobile friendly version, of course). We also created an interactive experience for the curious and passionate—the Trace My Catch initiative—which enables people to track the source of their seafood using a special product code found on cans of tuna, salmon and sardines. The feature takes visitors to a detailed breakdown of the journey of its catch, from species to fishery location, fishing methods and vessel information, to processing and the canning process:
With its digital framework well-established, Bumble Bee was ready for the launch of its first integrated campaign in many years, and certainly the first of its kind, Yes! Bumble Bee!, a breakthrough moment reaching new audiences and showing up in places where it’s always rightfully belonged.
And while Bumble Bee’s consumer-facing expression was refreshed, its corporate identity was also in need of revitalization. So we got to work on a catchy corporate website—thebumblebeecompany.com—a place that would reinforce Bumble Bee’s rich history where people could learn more about its commitment to sustainability and our oceans:
But before the site made its way across the internet, the corporate brand book took shape. Nature-inspired photography was complimented by a palette of nautical blues, greens and coral colors to reinforce its ecologically-minded practices and mission:
As a global seafood company, it was important that Bumble Bee’s new website reflected its commitment to the health of our oceans and those who rely on it using compelling images and education information. The site came to life across both desktop and mobile, unearthing Bumble Bee’s 120-year journey and giving it a new platform in which to exist:
