Casey’s is a much-loved mid-western gas station and convenience store chain that sits at the heart of the communities they serve. Over the last 50 years, the business has grown into the fourth (4th) largest convenience store and fifth (5th) largest pizza chain in the US. But as the business has evolved, the logo stayed the same, creating a disconnect between the modern in-store, app and online experience and the brand.

Interbrand’s role was to carefully update the brand to bring it in line with the new products and experiences that Casey’s now offers, while retaining its unique heritage.

The design challenge was developing a solution that could simultaneously reference both parts of the business — gas station and convenience store where you can buy coffee, donuts and their famous fresh pizza.

After store visits in Iowa and an extensive research with customers, we started developing concepts that would maintain the equity of the barn shape associated with Casey's presence in small towns and the quirky personality of the brand. We also pressure tested if these concepts could seamlessly flex into applications across the customer journey starting with the highway signs and ending with the checkout where the guest use their rewards points.

We maintained the color red for the brand, as it would fit both the food and gas offerings but also make the multi-year process of updating existing 2,200 stores easier.

The resulting brand utilizes a modernized version of the old logo. We evolved the barn by simplifying its color palette, refining its drawing, and adjusting its shape for digital environments. We elevated the presence of the weathervane on top of the barn. We also updated the logotype to reflect the quirky and friendly personality of Casey's and its new modern store experience. We customized the font for cohesion with other visual elements and legibility. These three logo components created a brand expression that is connected to the Casey's heritage and that can flex across the customer journey in new and exciting ways.

The new identity was rolled out in late 2020 and was met with positive and warm feedback from guests, employees and local communities.

New brand expressions started appearing in stores, in corporate offices, on the e-commerce website and app, and on social media. The modernized barn shape and friendly logotype adopted to these digital and print environments with ease. The applications also met functional needs such as grabbing attention on the highway or legibility on an icon.

One of the applications where the brand allowed for an exciting visual expression was the new to-go packaging and a new line of private label products that Casey's launched right after the logo rollout. Interbrand designed a packaging system that uses each element on the logo in a flexible way, creating a cohesive look for the entire line of products while expressing quality and taste unique for each offering. This new line of products exceeded targets even in a challenging year.