Hey moms and grandmas, get outta the way ’cause here come the Millenials.
Vips, the most famous Mexican casual family restaurant chain, with 50 years of experience and after being bought by the multi-brand restaurant operator Alsea, renews its image and concept to attract the new generation of youngsters.
Currently, Vips is the largest family restaurant in Mexico with 250 units and generates annual sales of 4.200 billion pesos, the 15% of the total sales of Alsea. However this sales are not enough because the restaurant is socially associated with adults, like the moms who go to breakfast after leaving their children in school, that is why the executives have decided to completely renew the concept of the chain in order to increase the younger consumers – The Millennial generation-.
If you didn’t know, Alsea also manages the Starbucks in Mexico, so I think it will be easier for them to know what young consumers want, however, they have to maintain the family environment, which makes this transition more difficult.
The new Vips will have five to nine screens for the transmission of sporting events, power connection in all the tables, the furniture went from having only beige seats and chairs to having different types of seats depending on the restaurant area, such as ergonomic chairs and colorful cushions.
Among other changes there is new furniture, better customer care protocols, a broader menu, a soda fountain with classic dishes like the banana split, a bar with beer and chicken wings, a new Instagram -because all millennials use Instagram- and a new graphic identity.
The new identity is a complete change, it only maintains the oval in a more dynamic way and its classic red colour with a brighter tone and includes a vibrant yellow. They finally got rid of the senseless combination of the childish typography with rigid “V”, which was the inverted “A” of Bodega Aurrera’s logo (when the company belonged to this supermarket chain).
The new wordmark is custom form of the Futura typography with details on the letter ‘i’ and ‘s’, and focuses on the ‘i’ and its yellow point, which represents a happy person and is the central part of the logo, just as the clients are the central part of the business.
There is not much to criticize because it is a simple design, I like what they did with the curve of the ‘i’, but the one in the ‘s’ is a little forced, but it overall it is a fair change. No one can really hate this redesign and if you do.. do you really prefer the old one? Of course it is not the amazing thing we were all waiting for, but is fresher and friendlier while still looking commercial, and for some reason I get this American design vibe, kind of denny’s and arby’s
But it will take more than a new identity and banana splits to attract millennials and change its image of mom’s breakfast place.
The first unit with this concept is located on Avenida Cuauhtémoc in Mexico City, and the physical transformation of the remaining units will be gradual, but all restaurants will have available the culinary offerings.