California Restaurant Association Launches New Web Site + New Brand
Sacramento, Calif. – The California Restaurant Association (CRA) today announced the official launch of its new Web site www.calrest.org, highlighting the Association’s new brand and logo.
For more than 100 years, the CRA has been devoted to forwarding, educating, protecting and providing the resources necessary for the success of our state’s innovative restaurant and hospitality industries. Representing more than 22,000 members, the CRA provides products and services that keep these industries running strong.
The CRA spent nearly a year working with the Sacramento-based MeringCarson on research and development of the Association’s new brand and overall identity. As 22-year veterans in the industry, MeringCarson has worked with a number of iconic California brands including the Disneyland Resort, the California Grown campaign and the California Travel and Tourism Commission, among others.
The California restaurant industry is known for being original and cutting-edge, which goes hand-and-hand with the diverse, inspirational and creative state it represents. Unique cuisine and innovative thinking have made California a world-famous culinary destination, and the CRA is proud to champion this amazing industry. It was with these ideals in mind that the CRA’s new brand and logo were developed.
“The California restaurant industry is unlike any other in the state. As California’s restaurant trade association, it was important for the CRA to also symbolize the industry’s unique and innovative nature in what we do,” said CRA President and CEO Jot Condie. “This transformation goes beyond a new look and feel and has become synonymous in how we serve the restaurant and hospitality industries.”
One component of crafting the new brand was developing a completely new Web site. To develop a site that would be most beneficial to CRA members, the CRA enlisted the expertise of ISG Solutions, a provider of specialized integrated web and database solutions and Blue River Interactive Group, an award-winning firm that worked on developing and redesigning Web sites for Amtrak California, Sutter Health and the CalChamber.
The new site allows CRA members to update and manage pertinent information, which will also update the Association’s database automatically. New functionality gives members and nonmembers alike the convenience of electronically ordering products, purchasing or renewing memberships and receiving important updates. The new site is easy to navigate and highlights the many aspects of what the association does from lobbying to education.
The CRA’s new Web site fuses the many facets of the new brand, along with highlighting the CRA’s new logo and tagline … “Prepare to be inspired.”
“The CRA’s new logo and tagline bring together the energy of the industry and the standard we strive for,” continued Condie. “’Prepare to be inspired’ represents the many different pieces that make up not only the industry, but the Association itself. From protecting and promoting the industry over at the Capitol to providing products and services that help keep restaurants open.”
The CRA’s new logo brings the iconic images of the fork, knife and spoon together in homage to the restaurant industry. The colors were chosen to reflect the state itself-the blue surf, the golden poppy and the yellow sun.
For more information about the CRA, please visit www.calrest.org.
