In the mid 2000s, Lassonde’s Board of Directors put the question of corporate identity on its agenda. The company was growing fast and making new acquisitions. Its products were on offer in Quebec and other Canadian provinces under an ever wider variety of brand names. But there was nothing to identify the manufacturer at a glance.

It wasn’t at all clear that consumers recognized Lassonde as the company behind Canton fondue broths and Allen’s apple juice sold in Ontario, for instance. So the Board asked senior management to standardize the company’s visual identity on all packaging. This proved no easy task.

For one thing, incorporating the logo in all packaging design would involve unforeseen costs and it would take time to deplete inventory in the existing packaging. But the main problem was that when the Lassonde logo was reduced to a smaller size suitable for display on packaging, it became almost illegible, which of course defeated the purpose.

Fortunately, the graphic designers came up with a simple solution: snip off a petal from the flower and enlarge it so that it could accommodate the company name in larger type alongside a smaller version of the flower symbol.

Then, upon further deliberation, the company decided to use two different logos for two different applications. It was agreed that the original logo, consisting of the company’s icon (the apple tree flower) together with the Lassonde signature in a vertical frame, would be used exclusively for the Lassonde Industries Inc. family of companies, while the new logo would be displayed alongside all trademarks on packaging, promotional and advertising materials.

Next column: Bringing a good idea to fruition…