The story:

Granite Gold Inc. is a family company, dating back to the 1950s and spanning three generations, with a long history of stone-care expertise. Co-founders and cousins Lenny Sciarrino and Lenny Pellegrino grew up in the family business manufacturing, installing and restoring stone surfaces in homes and businesses throughout Southern California.

More often than not after job completion, the brand’s customers would request information from Sciarrino and Pellegrino on what to use to tend to their stone.

“There really wasn’t anything in the market we could recommend with confidence,” says Sciarrino. “Common household cleaners will damage natural stone, and anything marketed specifically for use on stone either left streaks and fingerprints or wasn’t readily available for our customers to easily purchase. Mild dish soap and water was all we would recommend, and it still wasn’t the best answer.”

The relatives set out to remedy the lack of proper stone-care products and created a blend that was safe for all natural stones.

“With the answer in hand, we were filling bottles and handwriting ‘Cleaner’ or ‘Polish’ on them, giving them away after finishing restoration and installation projects,” says Sciarrino. “That soon led to customers returning, asking for more of the magic formula. Granite Gold Inc. was formed in 2003, and in 2004 we set out to bring Granite Gold brand stone-care products to a mass consumer audience.”

Sales immediately took off after the launch as Sciarrino and Pellegrino traveled around demonstrating the product and educating consumers on the danger of using household cleaners on stone. Today, the stone-care products are available throughout the U.S. and internationally.

The challenge:

Because homeowners view stonework as an investment in their houses and do not want to see it fall into need of repair or replacement, the stone company seeks to educate its consumers on the correct care with the right products.

“Very succinctly, Granite Gold provides easy-to-use and safe stone-care products made by stone-care experts,” says Sciarrino. “What’s more, through our customer service program, ‘Ask The Experts,’ we teach consumers how to properly care for their natural stone, whether it’s walking them through the basics of cleaning, sealing and polishing or helping them remove stains, water spots or soap scum. Our job is to educate consumers to help them avoid costly repair or replacement of the expensive stone surfaces.”

The long-standing brand recently made the decision to revamp its packaging, with the goal of helping consumers easily understand Granite Gold stone-care products are safe for stone, people and animals as well as user friendly, according to Sciarrino. The new labels also had to remind customers that Granite Gold is the source for all their stone needs.

The solution:

This year, the company has begun rolling out packaging with updated labels from supplier Phenix (www.phenixlabel.com) for many of its products.

“We are entering our second decade with a fresh, new look on our line of granite cleaners and other stone-care products,” says Sciarrino.

The new design includes more descriptive and appealing content that demonstrates both the strength and expertise of the Granite Gold brand. Further, this initiative also highlights Granite Gold as a family company, communicates health and safety, and simplifies directions on the new back label.

“We spent hours upon hours contemplating a complete redesign of our logo as well as total overhaul of our brand in terms of graphic design,” says Sciarrino. “In the end, we didn’t want to interrupt the brand loyalty consumers have with Granite Gold. The solution was to build upon and complement our previous packaging.

“We put particular emphasis not only on communicating the key benefits of cleaning and protecting natural stone surfaces but also in assuring our products are environmentally friendly and safe around family and pets,” he continues.

The new labels also work to continually relay the expertise the company holds in the stone and stone-care business to buyers.

“We aimed to project the quality that consumers have come to expect from us in a manner that was quickly distinguishable in varying retail settings,” says Sciarrino. “To do this, we chose colors that were bold and eye-catching, typography that was easy to read from a distance, and granite-like texture and background images to clearly portray the product’s purpose. The resulting brand contains elements that work together to showcase a high-quality stone-care product in a contemporary package that is quickly recognized, and more importantly, not easily forgotten.”  

> PACKAGE DESIGN

Granite Gold Inc.

 www.granitegold.com