Yankee Candle is rebranding to regain relevancy amid sales declines
Yankee Candle is unveiling a rebrand on Wednesday, part of a larger strategy to gain relevancy with younger shoppers and turn around declining sales.
The rebrand features a new logo and new wax formulation, on top of new behind-the-scenes strategies to juice up its marketing and invest more heavily in its store footprint. Aaron Swart, who became the svp and gm of home fragrance at Yankee Candle’s owner Newell Brands last summer, told Modern Retail a relaunch was necessary due to sales slumps, an outdated look and a need to appeal to younger customers to drive growth.
The company was founded in 1969 by Michael Kittredge, who held onto the company for nearly 30 years, until it went public in 1999. Eight years later, it fell into the private equity world with acquisition by Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, then it was sold to Jarden Corporation in 2013. In 2016, it became part of Newell Brands following its acquisition of Jarden.
But revamping a legacy brand is like walking a tightrope, Swart said. Yankee Candle had to stay true to its 50-year-old reputation while ditching a dated look. The new, larger label on its glass jars features much bigger imagery to showcase the scent inside. And the product itself is made from a new wax formulation that burns cleaner and allows for stronger scent throw. But the company is keeping the signature round jars with thick curvy lids, its portfolio of over 90 scents and its 220-plus retail stores.
“We hadn’t touched this thing in 10 years, and the world had changed a lot in that time,” Swart told Modern Retail. “There was real emotional attachment to the old packaging. So change didn’t come lightly, … but we also knew we had to evolve or risk becoming irrelevant.”
The candle market is valued at around $4.6 billion in the U.S. and growing, according to data shared by Newell Brands. Yankee Candle’s customer is an older demographic that plays in the middle market, as the brand’s products are priced lower than brands like Diptyque and Jo Malone. But with items priced at $15-$35 at wholesale partners like Target and Walmart, the brand is on the higher end compared to private labels.
Yankee Candle’s owner Newell Brands, which has over 50 companies in its portfolio including Graco, Coleman and Sharpie, doesn’t share revenue for its individual brands. But Newell’s earnings reports over at least the past six quarters have shown that core sales have declined in its home fragrance business, which also includes Chesapeake Bay and WoodWick.
A new marketing strategy for Yankee Candle
To help grow the company, Yankee Candle’s relaunch goes beyond just a new look. Behind the scenes, the company will push more seasonal and limited edition launches in its owned channels, like its retail stores and website. In 2023, for instance, about 12% of sales came from exclusives in its owned channels, Swart said. This year, that’s on track to be 30-35% of sales. And down the road, the brand will launch a luxury line to compete with higher-priced alternatives like Diptyque, Jo Malone and Nest.
Yankee Candle’s stores are currently profitable, Swart said, and the company sees more opportunity to use those as places to sell the trendiest products to its most loyal fans. That may include changing locations from malls to outdoor shopping or lifestyle centers as leases expire. Swart said. “For us to stand out and have an equity-driven message, our own channels need to be the highest fidelity expression of the brand,” Swart said.
Mary Ann O’Brien, CEO and founder of the marketing agency OBI Creative, said legacy companies like Yankee Candle are usually smart to hold onto their heritage when trying to modernize. But it takes more than a logo and label change, she said, and requires considering how and where they will push into new markets.
O’Brien suggested a bigger push into social media — including partnering with the crops of influencers who specifically focus on Target, Walmart or Amazon — to help drive sales. Getting into gift guides and on best-of lists could also help re-introduce the product to “‘90s kids who have discretionary income,” she said.
And as far as getting more in-store traffic, O’Brien said it makes sense to have exclusive scents or lines that offer more elevated or unique options. “Yankee Candle can carry that brand equity they have into a luxe line, or with an affordable luxury [offering], to broaden their audience,” she said.
Yankee Candle also has the benefit of longtime customers who trust the brand and can help vouch for it, O’Brien said. Her mother, for instance, exclusively buys the brand. “My mom loves Yankee Candle, so how does she pass that on to me, or how does she pass that on to my daughter?” she said.
Why Yankee Candle got a new look but kept the jar
From a timing perspective, Yankee Candle’s relaunch is coming ahead of the busiest time of year for the sector. The National Candle Association says around 35% of sales happen during the Christmas and holiday season.
Swart said Yankee Candle will be pushing out a national media campaign that includes connected TV, and more social media and influencer marketing to help tap shoppers in their 30s. The campaign will also feature actress Brittany Snow and promote seasonal scents like apple and pumpkin. Other content will include more lifestyle imagery and campaigns to promote its products, versus just a hero image of a candle or two, which it has typically relied on.
There’s also a new tagline Yankee Candle has been using in its marketing to help tap into the nostalgia factor younger shoppers may have: “Every Scent Tells a Story.” The brand has a few signature scents that evoke strong memories for people, Swart said, whether Vanilla Cupcake or Fresh Cut Roses or Watermelon. That breadth means people have many different associations that the brand has to capture, Swart said.
“That really lends itself to Yankee, whether you want to talk about Christmas or you want to talk about summertime, or you want to talk about a celebration, or you want that quiet time for yourself,” Swart said. “That’s kind of the magical thing about this brand, since fragrance plays such a special role in memory for people.”
But at the same time, the team has to be careful to not erode the elements that have given the company such a big reputation and fairly strong brand equity. Yankee Candle did multiple rounds of consumer research and led focus groups to figure out what people liked about Yankee Candle and what could be updated.
One challenging conversation involved whether to keep the name “Yankee.” But they ultimately decided to keep it because “it’s too iconic to walk away from,” Swart said. Similarly, the customer focus groups and studies showed that people had a strong connection to the lidded glass apothecary jars and the scent profiles.
“Scent is still the hero. That never changed. What we needed was to reframe the experience around it,” he said. “We simplified the packaging. We changed the label. We rethought the photography. But we didn’t touch the juice.”