Silver American Advertising Awards, Northwest
Gold, American Advertising Awards, Northwest

Town & Country Foods

Town & Country Foods is a longstanding, beloved Montana brand. With eight stores in six unique communities, T&C is a trusted neighborhood staple — feeding people, growing relationships, and giving back. To punctuate the people-first ethos Town & Country evolved into a 100% employee owned company – a transition that is driving success today.

While the blueprint for the 60-year-old company remains the same, Hardy Brands was brought in to create a brand strategy that fits where they are today and will empower T&C scale in the future. This strategy laid the groundwork for a visual identity system that unites each location while highlighting their unique charm.

Scope

Brand Strategy
Brand Identity
Environmental Branding
Brand Launch

Location

Across Montana

awards

Result

A brand that celebrates Town & Country Foods’ longstanding community presence, reaffirms employee ownership, and enables sustainable growth into new locations across Montana.

Riverhouse event photography showing a couple eating BBQ togetherRiverhouse homepage mockup on an ipadRiverhouse Montana drivers license branded artwork with logo seal
three versions of the Security Title Co logo side-by-side
An image showing several of Security Title Co's brand book pages
Security Title Co merchandise and business set design
Image with the headline "we eliminate risk" above an illustration of two people putting items into a giant safeAn image of a mother and child with the Security Title Co logo in the corner
Challenge

Town & Country Foods is a beloved organization, and rebranding it was not taken lightly. Every store has its unique charm. Through surveys, it became clear that most customers were not aware that they are 100% employee owned.

goal

Evolve the brand to better represent their values and communicate employee ownership all while celebrating T&C’s long heritage and maintaining the individualized charm in each location. Create tools that will help the company scale in the future.

approach

From the strategy to the logo, every part of T&C’s brand was carefully crafted to pay homage to the history of the company while maintaining an honest, no-fuss feel.

Brand Launch

Hardy facilitated a multi-phase brand launch that considered everything from employee-owner training to the ‘why pay more’ signs. The first step was to train all leadership staff on the new strategy. By providing consistent language, their leadership team has the tools to communicate the brand to all employee-owners and customers, utilize it in hiring, and lean on it for business decisions. To support the high level of service T&C is known for, we created talking points, rack cards, and tools that empower employee-owners to answer questions customers may have.

Packaging

The Bridger Brewing team wanted to be prepared to can and distribute its beer after opening its second location. AMS partnered with Bridger Brewing for packaging design concepts. The first step in the packaging process involved a strategy session in which the unique identity of each beer was explored and dissected. Several concepts were then sketched out. Once a concept was selected for each beer, custom illustrations were created for cans and boxes. The result is a full lineup of beers, each with its own design that is unique while still clearly a member of the Bridger Brewing brand.

Reason no. 8

The longest line you’ll see comes from a reel.

reason no. 12

Big ideas are best discussed on the back of a pickup.

Custom icon set done for the Riverhouse brand
Riverhouse BBQ food photography showing a BBQ sandwich and fries
low-contrast Riverhouse logo on blue backgroundRiverhouse BBQ menu designslow-contrast Riverhouse logo on brown background
examples of Security Title Co's website pages
Gif of various custom illustrations done for the Security Title Co brandA grid of the Security Title Co team members at community eventsCustom icon set done for Security Title Co
We have worked with Hardy Brands for the last two years and we are very impressed with their work. The communication, knowledge, and dedication they put in for our company was second to none. We didn't really know what to expect with a rebranding and the crew helped us through every stage with fine tuning our thoughts and ideas for the company.
Catherine Scarffe
|
Store Manager, Dillon, Montana
Photo of riverhouse meat with tagline "It's a Smokin' Good Time" overlaid
An illustration of two people in front of a For Sale sign next to Security Title Co's tagline Grounded in Montana Rooted in Community

See More Work

Crucible
Strategy
Identity
Execution

Crucible

Home & Build
read more
Ghost Town Coffee Roasters
Strategy
Identity
Packaging

Ghost Town Coffee Roasters

Food & Drink
read more
Hungry Moose Market and Deli
Identity
Strategy
Web

Hungry Moose Market and Deli

Goods & Services
read more
want to chat? give us a ring

We are always eager to talk branding with engaged businesses.