Below: Before and After Images in Slide Show, Summary, Credits
Shokoladnitsa is a well-known café brand across Russia rooted in Soviet history. It has long been the iconic location in terms of both food and service since it first appeared in Moscow in 1964. Yet, in the past few years, the chain has been losing market share due to newly emerging concepts in the two major areas of its business — coffee and dining.
The brand had to target a new generation of consumers while preserving its existing devotees. In addition, the scale of business sharply increased the riskiness of any possible solution. This made the project not a carefree talk over a cup of coffee.
Like Shokoladnitsa itself the initiative became a venue for a cross-disciplinary discussion—from bringing in an architectural firm to the pitch stage, to holding a series of passionate workshops, opened with a benchmarking session in Paris—together with the key stakeholders and a service design partner. The new logo, being the graphic alluding to the first letter of the Russian word ‘Шоколадница’ and symbolizing the warm atmosphere inside, was just the tip of the iceberg. What was more important, no less than 137 touchpoints were examined within the service model, bringing the brand much closer to what it craved to be — a city of pleasure, chocolate and desserts being the cornerstone of the menu.
The company is ready to invest $10 million in the brand transformation over the next two years. The first two renovated locations welcomed guests at the end of 2017. Before then, many of the solutions developed throughout the project, like grab&go option, have already become positive drivers for the average bill across the chain.
Client: Shokoladnitsa Team – www.shoko.ru
Brand Strategists/Designers: SmartHeart® – www.sh.agency
Head of Project: Yuri Narvin
Brand Strategy:
Sergey Sergeev
Alexander Ponomarev
Graphic Design:
Alexander Demchenkov
Anna Martin
Konstantin Simonov
Interior Design:
Mantas Petrushkevich
Maria Yasko
Nikita Tikhonov
Service Design:
Valentina Uralova
Elena Anoshina
Maria Dolgikh
Alexandra Kilyashova
Svetlana Cherkashina
Nina Danilina
Anna Alexeeva
Elena Shaimanova
Stylists:
Ksenia Yakimchuk
Ksenia Bragina
Project Managers:
Olga Holodova
Ivan Kozhin
Kamila Nafikova
Tatyana Strunina
