Stephanie Nyairo
Stephanie Nyairo
Kukito is a fast food brand that serves the best kuku choma in Nairobi. Together with the team at ARK I worked to bring this integrated brand experience with uniquely Kenyan heritage to life. Gathering around the fire has always mattered to us. We’re a society that has always appreciated coming together and sharing our food, stories, and laughs. Kukito embodies this sentiment, reminding us to bask in the joy of life as we munch on some good food. Share some chicken. Share your stories. Share the joy.
After successfully collaborating with Java House Group on the expansion of their fast casual coffee houses across East Africa they approached the team at ARK to help them understand the fast food market in Kenya.
To explore the fast food landscape in Nairobi and beyond, we immersed ourselves in the lives of our consumers for two months. We uncovered their needs, preferences, and aspirations, as well as the gaps and trends in the market.
From inception to completion this project brought together a multi-disciplinary team and our unique strengths were critical in bringing to life this larger than life vision. This project was one of my first forrays into user research as I got to work closely with our researchers to gain a deep understanding of what’s on offer, what consumers want, how suppliers operate, and what they need and the greater context of fast food culture.
Synthesising our findings, meant bringing together our design, strategy and business minds. In order to bring together the consumers needs and wants, as well as the value and opportunity.
Our strategic analysis highlighted several opportunities in the fast food space, so together with the Java House Group we embarked on creating an offering that would maximise on the gaps in the market and utilise innovative methods across brand, product, service, and experience design to create a global brand rooted in Kenyan nyama choma heritage.
Personifying our unique Kenyan spirit was an essential element in our Brand Story, and needed to shine through in every element of the brand. The name was the first element we created, selecting a name that spoke to our product, was rooted in Kenyan lingo, yet had the gravitas to work across the globe. KUKITO.
I led the brand design for this project and through the creation of the identity and visual system made sure to keep our product, youthful brand energy and our Kenyan heritage at the forefront. Our logo mark and the styling on which the brand name sits are true reflections of this with the former conveying a flame or abstract form of a chicken whilst the latter pays homage to the talented sign writers who’s carving can be seen on any major Kenyan road.
As our target audience are young professionals and students the visuals of the brand needed to bring together the energy, joie de vivre and humour synonymous with our youth, and which is often observed when we are gathered round for a meal.
With the packaging it was essential for us to bring together our various visual elements on a box that was easy to carry and use. Additionally we designed a greaseproof paper which paid homage to newspapers that were commonly used to package fast food. This brand element contains unique stories, features, and events happening in the city and was an interactive element that customers could contribute to.
Partnering with Java House Group, we worked as brand guardians, consulting & collaborating with them on the product development, creation, and naming of the key menu items always bringing forth the energy and unique Kenyan spirit of the brand.
We consulted with the team at Image 360 Designs to design the interior, ensuring that the brand’s mood and feel was translated into the space and physical elements at our first location. And brought in the talented artist Chelwek to create murals within the space.
We also worked with Jackie Mwai, the photographer to create some mouth-watering imagery for the communication and advertising efforts.
For the launch of the first branch on the bustling Kimathi Street we knew we wanted to make a mark and let the world know about our brand. Our team conceptualised and executed the marketing strategy in conjunction with the Java House Group to ensure the physical and online streets were abuzz with the news of Kukito.
Since launching in October 2019, Kukito has opened 3 other branches in Nairobi and the surrounding town of Machakos. Capitalising on the unique value proposition we created to bring kuku choma to more Kenyans. Jibonde na kuku choma.