Kappahl

In recent years, Kappahl underwent major changes in organization, leadership and ownership, and was finally bought out from Nasdaq Stockholm and taken private by investment firm Mellby Gård in 2019. With its new stable owner in place, Kappahl identified a need for a long-term strategic shift.

Along came COVID-19, and a global crisis that meant great uncertainty for the entire retail industry. But Kappahl was on a quest to secure future relevance and decided that the pandemic made this more necessary than ever. In a situation where focus was on costs, the management team and owners dared to invest in the future.

Lynxeye helped uncover existing brand strengths worth investing in and identified distinct target groups with common traits that could form the base for a revamped, coherent Kappahl offering and brand.

Mapping out and sizing future growth opportunities large enough for Kappahl’s business objectives and growth plans, Lynxeye identified which had the greatest win potential. This work, based fully on consumer insights, then guided the development of brand architecture and style concepts.

The result was a completely new brand strategy that will confidently guide Kappahl’s journey and secure its relevance for future customers. A crucial part in the iterative process of defining the future position was to develop a new visual identity, revamped logo and a custom typeface, that embodied the brand strategy.

The collaboration between Lynxeye and Kappahl was built on high involvement across the organization, co-creation and a learning approach where Lynxeye equipped Kappahl’s management and brand teams to be able to work as a brand-centered organization.

• Consumer segmentation and target group selection
• Growth opportunity mapping and sizing
• Brand architecture and portfolio
• Brand strategy including brand purpose
• Visual identity
• Brand strategy implementation and internal engagement support

Despite challenging market climate with both the pandemic and war in Europe, both of which affected Kappahl’s bottom line, the company achieved immediate and impressive financial results:

• 2021 was reported as Kappahl’s best financial year on record.
• Kappahl reached a turnover of around 5 billion SEK in 2022 after a 300 million SEK increase, making it its second best year ever.

Kappahl and its owners credits the growth success to reworking its brand strategy, reviewing its target groups and revitalizing its customer offering, making investments in its store network, as well as culture-strengthening work with HR strategy, diversity and inclusion.

Empowered organization

The long term business plan has been integrated with brand strategy and synced with key initiatives such as:

• New corporate values reflecting the brand values
• A film capturing Kappahl’s purpose as part of internal launch and onboarding of new colleagues
• Internal launch event and internal communication to set hearts on fire

New visual identity

Kappahl’s new strategic direction is manifested in a revamped logo and visual identity, including a custom made typeface, Kappahl Type.

Kappahl’s confident expression in the 70’s was a source of inspiration for a round, geometric style that will not go unnoticed.

Updated brand portfolio

Early 2021, Kappahl launched mindful childrenswear brand Minories, as a step in its growth plan.

“Kappahl is on the threshold of an exciting phase of growth, where Minories is one of the initiatives that will help us to sharpen our brand portfolio even further.” said Desiré Westerberg, Vice President Business Unit Kids at Kappahl.

Invigorated collections

Spring 2021, Kappahl's new direction was visible in campaigns and new collections.

“We are exploring a number of new models and methods that will contribute to a circular fashion industry. It should be easy for our customers to shop more sustainably,” said Elisabeth Peregi, CEO at Kappahl.