Several well-known convenience store and gas station brands will be rebranded with the Circle K logo, using independent creative agency SMFB.
The initiative will involve the brands Circle K®, Statoil®, Mac’s® and Kangaroo Express®, all belonging to leading convenience retailer Couche-Tard, consolidating them into a global brand “Circle K”. These brands are common across Canada, the United States, Scandinavia, and Central and Eastern Europe.
Couche-Tard’s stated aspiration is to make the new Circle K the world’s preferred destination for convenience and fuel. “The work we are doing together with SMFB is already mobilizing our internal teams and receiving overwhelming support throughout the organization around the world. We look forward to the journey ahead”, says Kim James, Global Director of Brand Management.
The listed Canadian company Couche-Tard is a convenience retail specialist with a global reach, including 7,987 outlets in the US alone, and employing some 80,000 people in North America. Having acquired similar businesses in other regions, they aim to forge a global brand that will boast nearly 15,000 outlets specialising in fuel and convenience items, specifically for motorists. The group also has subsidiaries that offer motoring logistics supplies. Expansion has also included selected Asian countries.
Responsibility for the re-branding and marketing of the new unified brand falls to Shnel & Melnychuck & Forsman & Bodenfors (SMFB), a full service advertising agency that has managed campaigns for Ikea, Mondel?z International, Santander Consumer Bank, Mills, Maarud, Nordic Choice Hotels, Tine and Geox.
“Very few people will ever have the opportunity to be a part of launching a new global brand of this size and magnitude. It is extremely inspiring and motivating for us at SMFB to work with Couche-Tard and its Circle K brand. It is a company with an amazing ability to turn big ambitions into a reality. Together, we have created a framework for a new global brand, which will now be brought to life by 100,000 employees all over the world with the help of great communication”, says Christian Steen, Managing Director at SMFB.