A Recipe for Growth: Bakehouse Bread Company’s Brand Refresh

“We’ve been able to evolve the business over 28 years. It’s nice to go [from Arizona] to our hometown in Michigan and go to the local Kroger and there’s our product. And our families can buy it… it feels good.”

— Nancy McKearney

Bakehouse Bread Company is an Arizona-based wholesale bakery that has been in business since 1996. While the company initially operated as a brick-and-mortar café, husband and wife, John and Nancy McKearney transitioned to wholesale in 2001. Their goods, caringly baked from scratch, are now available nationwide in stores like Kroger and Walmart. Bakehouse Bread’s uncompromising focus on quality has led them to achieve impressive growth and expansion over the years.

The Challenge

While Bakehouse Bread Company had achieved considerable success, with an impressive annual revenue of $15 million, they recognized the need to make their brand presence just as fresh as their bread. This was a necessity as they aimed to attract a new generation of shoppers. The company faced three key challenges in achieving this goal:

Crafting a Cohesive Brand Story: After working to perfect their products for nearly 30 years, John and Nancy McKearney had a great story on their hands, but they knew they needed a talented copywriter to help them craft it. This was imperative if they wanted to differentiate themselves in their competitive market.
Refreshing their Visual Identity: The company's visual identity felt outdated and didn't reflect the quality and craftsmanship of their products. A modern visual language was essential to attract new customers and enhance brand recognition.
Building a Website for the World of 2024 (and Beyond): Bakehouse's existing website was functional, but needed a meaningful overhaul to engage visitors and drive conversions. John and Nancy knew they wanted to tell the story of a brand that’s been growing since 1996, but do it in a way that feels very now. With a refreshed website, they’d be able to properly showcase their products and tell their story.

John and Nancy knew that if they could successfully address these challenges, the company would become more desirable to potential clients and partners, opening doors for the future.

Bakehouse Bread Company (x) Wild Hearted Words

John and Nancy asked around trying to find someone who could help them to evolve in the ways they knew they needed to. They ended up getting referred to Judy and Wild Hearted Words.

According to Nancy McKearney, once she started working with Judy, “I was like, Where have you been all my life?”

Cohesive Brand Story

John and Nancy were immediately impressed with Judy’s ability to take the personality of Bakehouse Bread Company and bring it to life.

Wild Hearted Words worked with Bakehouse Bread to create a branding deck that could help power the company’s marketing for years to come. Nancy McKearney says the branding deck is “kind of my Bible.”

On a day-to-day basis it helps her to talk to potential clients and speak to the story of her company, instilling the same joy and freshness that’s so obvious in her company’s bread.

Refreshed Visual Identity

“ ‘I felt like we had grown up,’ says Nancy. ‘She helped us grow up.’”

While Wild Hearted Words wasn’t responsible for Bakehouse Bread Company’s logo, they worked on refreshing the original logo in a number of ways. This was another meaningful slice in the brand’s evolution.

Wild Hearted Words designer, Brent Murrell, was able to revamp labels for the entire product line, taking into consideration everything from product placement in stores to bringing the brand’s personality forward in color, font, and copy.

A Website for 2024

After talking to John and Nancy it became clear to Wild Hearted Words that their bread has been a central point of so many different celebratory moments in life. WHW wanted to make sure that this came through on the website (in both the copy and visuals throughout).

Key Results

Thanks to their partnership with Wild Hearted Words, Bakehouse Bread Company feels ready to thrive in the decade ahead.

The company has a refreshed visual identity that matches the joy of their products.

“We’re in talks with quite a few people right now… having a potential client respond is kind of a big thing.”

They have new clarity on their core values, messaging pillars, and strategic goals. John and Nancy feel confident talking about their business like never before. Nancy says the branding deck has made a huge difference. “I carry it around with me.”

Since their new website was launched, the McKearneys have been thrilled to see it attract a number of new meaningful leads.

The Wild Hearted Words Process

After engaging Judy initially for content marketing support, Nancy soon realized that there was so much more her team could do to support more of her digital marketing needs.

She engaged in a 3-month retainer agreement with myriad deliverables and enjoyed being able to work closely with different members of her team via Slack, email, and meetings.

Most importantly, Judy and the team advocated for best practices in the industry. They were able to provide an objective sounding board to ensure that any other vendors or collaborators were quality resources to ensure that the client’s resources were being wisely invested — a concern for any business owner to ensure ROI on business decisions.

Key Takeaways

Nancy was particularly struck by this language in the branding deck:

“Our vision is for families across the nation to enjoy our breads and to continue serving as a reliable business partner for grocery chains, ensuring our delightful bread is accessible to all.”

Our vision is for families across the nation to enjoy our breads and to continue serving as a reliable business partner for grocery chains, ensuring our delightful bread is accessible to all.”

She’s been excited to use this very authentic language as she talks to potential clients.

“When we started this in ‘96, I didn't think we'd be across the nation. That wasn't a goal at the time. I just wanted people to come in the door locally… but thankfully, we've been able to evolve the business over 28 years.”

Nancy says she’s thankful to have gotten to partner with Judy and Wild Hearted Words to help her business continue to grow and evolve.