Delii
Category:
Brand Identity
Location:
Queretaro, Mexico
From Dark Kitchen to Fast-Food Cult Brand
Delii is a fast-food brand focused primarily on chicken burgers. The objective went far beyond creating a visually appealing identity. Delii needed to connect with a young audience and position itself not only as a place to eat, but as a cultural meeting point, a brand people could emotionally attach to and return to. From day one, the challenge was to build a brand that felt young and approachable, while remaining timeless, recognizable, and scalable.
Turning a Simple Idea into a Recognizable, Cultural Brand
Delii started with a simple idea, but building it into a culturally relevant brand came with challenges: ✦ Competing in a saturated fast-food market ✦ Avoiding trend-based designs that age quickly ✦ Developing a scalable identity for packaging, signage, merchandising, digital, and in-store experiences ✦ Transforming the restaurant into a cultural and social hub The objective was clear: design a brand with long-term relevance, not a short-lived aesthetic. Delii doesn’t just serve food, it creates experiences. Through recurring in-store DJ events (“Delii Nights”) and limited merch drops, the brand fosters a sense of community and turns its locations into social hubs. Customers don’t just come for a burger, they come for the culture and the vibe, building loyalty and a cult-like following among young adults.
Building a personality, not just a logo
The foundation of Delii was the simple but powerful idea: “Everything is Deli” (short for delicious in spanish). This concept informs everything, the food, the atmosphere, the communication, and the way people experience the brand. Key strategic decisions: ✦ Brand Personality: Youthful, irreverent, approachable, yet visually memorable. ✦ Color & Typography: Bold yellow & black for instant recognition and a semi-organic typography that balances friendliness with precision. ✦ Secondary Identity: Playful characters and illustrated elements humanize the brand and reinforce humor across social media, merch, and in-store graphics. ✦ Scalable Applications: Packaging, merchandising (t-shirts, tote bags, bottles, stickers), store signage, neon lights, staff uniforms, and social media content. This approach allowed Delii to maintain cultural relevance while building a system that works consistently across all touchpoints.
Turning Strategy into Measurable Growth
Delii went from a dark kitchen to a recognized, cult-driven brand in just a few years. The results speak for themselves: ✦ Revenue: $1.4M MXN (2022) → $5M MXN (2025), +86% YoY growth. ✦ Burger Sales: Weekly orders increased from 200 to 650 units. ✦ Expansion: From a single dark kitchen to 2 physical locations across 2 states. ✦ Digital Demand: Uber Eats weekly orders rose from 38 in 2023 to 114 in 2025, totaling over 4,000 confirmed orders; more than $1.6M MXN in online sales during a single period. ✦ Delii® is a now a registered trademark. These numbers prove that a culture-driven, strategically built brand doesn’t just look good, it drives growth, loyalty, and tangible business impact. Delii shows how aligning identity, experiences, and community can turn a simple fast-food concept into a thriving, scalable brand.
