Abstract:

Suze is a traditional French aperitif, born in 1889. The iconic logo and the yellow brand colors are well known from posters, brasserie carafes, and wall murals in French towns. But the brand itself had become quite dated. We applied semiotics to understand the DNA of the brand and its cultural connotations, resonance. This allowed us to be free from any influence of (current) consumer perceptions. This x-ray of the brand's DNA revealed strands of potential future positioning stories - from a natural ingredient story right through to gender-fluidity: astonishing for a brand that is over 100 years old.