FroYo lover’s in my neck of the woods rejoiced with the recent opening of the area’s first Orange Leaf store. That may not be a big deal to all y’all MetroYogusexuals, but here deep in the realm of the Dairy Queen (Long Live the Queen!) this just adds a wonderful option to our burgeoning quickserve frozen dessert menu.
But that’s not the big thing—this little thing is: the Orange Leaf spoon.
I’ve talked with a circle of both professionals (creative types) and garden-variety civilians, and both groups have fessed up to the same thing: that we all have AT LEAST 5 to 10 of these little brand buggers hanging around our kitchens, workshops, and junk drawers at home.
Why? They are just like the disposable plastic spoons you can get from any fast food place.
No, they are not.
One might be able to chalk up that spoon retentive behavior to novelty, but I’m not so sure. These spoons have a unique shape, attention to design, and a sense of thing-worth-keeping-ness that their similarly molded brethren lack. And we respond to all the above with a simple reaction: We take ’em home rather than throw ’em out.
Moms and Dads of toddlers love them for their rounded edges and kid-friendly appeal (just try to get a kid NOT to pick one up). My Orange Leaf-obsessed art director bud raves about the way it “enhances the entire yogurt experience” (yeah, he actually says shite like that.) My kids are all 10 and up AND WE STILL BRING THE DANG THINGS HOME.
I invite any interested social scientists to tell us why, but what gets me is that this brand was able to take an everyday utilitarian object and turn it in to a coveted objet d’brand. This was no mistake. This was a carefully crafted, brilliantly executed part of a master brand plan. They even have a webpage dedicated to it.
We have them in our minivan. My daughters take them to school in their lunches. And every time we/they see them, we engage with Orange Leaf’s brand—and start planning our next trip there.
This is what branding is all about. Orange Leaf (and especially their spoons’ designers), I salute you—with approximately 13 ounces of swirled coffee and hazelnut.
-dp
