CIBO House: Bringing Italian Food Culture to Hyderabad

Situation: Creating Brand Identity for First Italian Cafe in Hyderabad

Linden, a company located in Hyderabad, India, wanted to create their first sub-brand: an Italian Bistro—actually the first Italian Cafe in Hyderabad. The client wanted a brand name for the new venture that really tied in with their concept of heart-warming Italian food served to the local Indian population.

The client has experience running five successful Subway restaurants (franchises) over the last three years. Now they are trying to create their own successful model of Italian bistros, starting with this first location in Hyderabad.

The Indian restaurant market requires brands that communicate authenticity, quality, and cultural connection. CIBO House needed a brand identity that would work for the Indian market while communicating Italian food culture.

Task: Create Brand Identity for India’s First Italian Cafe Brand

The challenge required:

• Brand naming: Brand name that ties in with concept of heart-warming Italian food
• Indian market: Brand identity that works for Indian target market
• Italian authenticity: Visual identity that communicates Italian food culture
• Scalability: Brand that scales across multiple locations
• Local language: Brand name that avoids local language faux pas

Action: Strategic Brand Development

Brand Naming: CIBO House

After much research and brainstorming, we came up with a series of brand names from which the client chose the final one: CIBO House. “Cibo” in Italian means food, and we wanted to hint at an “eating house” or “eatery.” We also made sure that the name was not trademarked and that the website domain name was free to register.

Creating the right kind of brand name for a chain of bistros is quite a tough challenge. More importantly, creating a brand name for the Indian target market is even tougher. We carefully analyzed the local language specifics of Andhra Pradesh in India to ensure that we were not committing any faux pas. This really takes up a lot of time when dealing with international brand naming exercises. Once we have a short list of names, we put a lot of effort into making sure there are no trademarks registered and a domain is available. These days finding a domain name is near to impossible!

Logo Design: From Complex to Simple

Initially, we explored Italian imagery related to various landmarks such as San Gimignano, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Piazza del Campo in Venice, Santa Maria del Fiore, Colosseum, and more. We also explored images of Italian food drawn in line art. But increasingly, we realized that such complex visuals would make it difficult for the client to brand their bistro logo effectively and would also end up costing a lot.

So we went back to the drawing board and started stripping away everything right down to the core essence of the brand. We were left with a few simple iconic images which resulted in highly effective designs that would serve a growing chain of bistros quite well.

Result: Brand Identity Ready for Expansion

The brand identity we created for CIBO House successfully communicates the heart-warming Italian food concept. The comprehensive brand transformation delivers:

Strategic Outcomes

• Brand naming: Brand name successfully ties in with concept of heart-warming Italian food
• Indian market: Brand identity successfully works for Indian target market
• Italian authenticity: Visual identity successfully communicates Italian food culture
• Scalability: Brand successfully scales across multiple locations
• Local language: Brand name successfully avoids local language faux pas
• Complete brand system: CIBO House name, simple iconic logo, and brand identity create unified experience

Implementation Success

Today, CIBO House uses this comprehensive brand identity to attract customers who want to experience authentic Italian food in Hyderabad. The CIBO House name and logo design work perfectly for the Indian market, creating a memorable brand that positions them as Hyderabad’s first Italian cafe while setting them up for future expansion. The brand successfully builds on the client’s successful restaurant experience to create a new chain of Italian bistros that brings Italian food culture to Indian diners, with brand identity that remains simple enough to scale across multiple locations while communicating the heart-warming Italian food concept.