Anybody launching a wholesome snack model has a mountain to climb. Think about this state of affairs: you’ve got received a genuinely higher product, created from pulses and grains as an alternative of fried potatoes, baked, not fried, all the correct credentials. You wish to shout about it. However that is exactly why no one’s shopping for.
Eat Actual discovered itself on this actual bind. Regardless of its level of distinction—crisps created from hummus, quinoa, lentils, and greens—the model was floundering. Low consciousness. Inconsistent messaging. No clear second of consumption.
The issue was that the extra the model talked about being wholesome, the extra customers heard “worthy however uninteresting”. It is the snacking equal of being informed greens are good for you. The assertion is likely to be true, but it surely’s hardly motivating if you’re standing in entrance of a store at 3pm with a Twix in your peripheral imaginative and prescient.
Promoting style, not well being
London company Noon Studio‘s resolution was counterintuitive however sensible: cease promoting well being, begin promoting style. The rebrand pivots the whole positioning from wellness to deliciousness. And in doing so, it reveals a basic side of client psychology that designers working in food and drinks want to know.
The lesson: folks do not wish to be lectured after they’re snacking. Customers already really feel responsible sufficient about snacking; they do not want a model making them really feel even worse. What they really need is to take pleasure in themselves with out the disgrace spiral.
On this mild, body your wholesome snack as wholesome, and you’ve got simply made it homework. Body it as
scrumptious, and instantly it is a deal with that occurs to be higher for you.
Cookbook inspiration
The design execution leans exhausting into this repositioning. Noon took inspiration from the world of cookbooks; these shiny, aspirational meals bibles that make you wish to cook dinner even when you understand you will not. It is a good reference level as a result of cookbooks are essentially about want and sensory pleasure, not vitamin labels and calorie counts.
The packaging places flavour entrance and centre with vibrant, food-focused colors and appetising images of actual substances; “freshly picked, imperfect but lovely greens and fruits,” as Claudio Vecchio, artistic companion at Noon Studio, calls them.
There’s an abundance and naturalness to the imagery that communicates goodness with out preaching about it. The tone of voice has received tastier too, with descriptors that sound like they belong on a restaurant menu slightly than a dietician’s suggestion.
Fixing complexity
Importantly, in addition they solved a sensible downside. Eat Actual’s vary is advanced: 4 completely different chip bases (hummus, quinoa, lentil, veggie), every with a number of flavour profiles. The earlier design wasn’t serving to customers navigate this.
The brand new system creates a transparent hierarchy and distinction whereas sustaining model coherence. Noon developed the dated elliptical holding form from the previous brand right into a messaging roundel, liberating up the logotype to change into extra natural and fashionable, punctuated with a leaf. It retains simply sufficient DNA from earlier iterations to maintain present prospects on board whereas signalling unmistakable change.
The refresh extends throughout each touchpoint (in-store shows, social media, sampling occasions) with the rallying cry “Love Meals? Eat Actual.” It is an invite, not an instruction. A celebration, not a sermon.
This type of strategic bravery is surprisingly uncommon. Most manufacturers cling to what they assume ought to work slightly than confronting what truly does. Eat Actual may have doubled down on well being messaging, added extra certifications to the pack, emphasised protein content material and low energy. As a substitute, they dared to make their hero a secondary profit, or at the very least much less specific.
Key takeaway
For designers engaged on related briefs within the better-for-you area, there is a essential lesson right here. Your purchasers will typically wish to lead with their virtuous credentials as a result of that is what they’re happy with, what differentiates them, what they imagine in. Your job is to assist them perceive that customers do not buy ingredient lists; they purchase the promise of enjoyment. The well being stuff will be there, but it surely must be a supporting actor, not the lead.
The snack aisle is hostile territory for challenger manufacturers, dominated by large gamers with large budgets. To compete, it’s essential to be as fascinating because the worst-for-you choice whereas being higher for you. That is a troublesome transient. Noon’s work reveals tips on how to pull it off: make folks need it first, then be ok with it.
As for whether or not this repositioning works? Time will inform, however the strategic logic is sound. In spite of everything, we’re a nation of meals lovers who admire good meals all over the place besides, apparently, relating to snacks. Eat Actual is betting that it would not must be a compromise. And now it seems to be the half.
