Olive Garden’s Re-Branding Strategy

In an effort to gain back customers from newer fast casual chains such as Panera Bread or Chipotle, Olive Garden is rolling out a two phased re-branding strategy. Olive Garden has always advertised themselves to be the family-friendly neighborhood Italian dining option; now they will strive to maintain the same family-friendly vibe just at a slightly more sophisticated level. Darden Restaurants, Olive Garden’s parent company, announced last March that the brand was in need of a ‘renaissance,’ which would include updated décor, a new logo, smaller lunch portions, online ordering and speedier dine-in service.

Olive Garden’s new décor has a more modern feel to it and has parted ways with the monotone dull interiors. They are literally tearing down walls as part of the remodel to give the spaces a more open feel, redecorating with pop colors and modern art. The logo had not been updated in over fifteen years so Lippincott, a design firm, assisted in simplifying the old brand logo and replacing the tagline with “Italian Kitchen” rather than “Italian Restaurant” to connote a faster, higher-quality operation.

Hopefully these efforts will not be in vain and the chain can win back some of its customers. To read more about the changes and updates taking place at Olive Garden, click here