Today, with a turnover of £38 million, Innocent’s extensive product range and several brand extensions, the company’s core values and goals remain as clearly defined and strong as they were eight years ago. This consistency has enabled Innocent to become the UK’s fastest growing food and drink company without compromising its creative company culture.
Either through necessity or intent, Innocent’s company image and brand values grew organically, as, without the input of a specialist agency, the founders developed the straightforward, slightly irreverent communications style that soon became the company’s trademark. The fun, easy going, no-nonsense approach suited a small start-up that appeared to be flying in the face of the big corporate drinks manufacturers, and yet, even now Innocent has claimed 63 percent share of the £111 million UK smoothie market, the company has managed to maintain the integrity of its brand values, retaining the trust and support of its employees, customers and retail partners.
Dan Germain joined Innocent as Copywriter in the early stages of the company’s development, and understands perhaps better than anyone how Innocent has retained, for want of a better word, its innocence: ‘We give a damn about the small stuff. We obsess about details. It’s the only way to keep everything Innocent. It’s weird – big stuff almost takes care of itself, but it’s the little things that you need to keep an eye on.’
Over time, Innocent’s initial informal approach has become galvanised into something more akin to a formula for success. The company has developed several brand extensions, including a free music festival and the Innocent Foundation (a grant giving charity that works in partnership with community based projects and NGOs in the countries from which Innocent sources its produce) that on the face of it appear to be completely at odds with each other, yet which both manage to convey the values of honesty and integrity that the brand stood for when Innocent first began trading eight years ago.
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Creating brand values.
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