Brand Slam Episode 4: Learning How to Grow and Market a CBD Brand
On episode 4 of Brand Slam our guest is Liza Cohen from Nature’s Nosh. Nature’s Nosh is a dried fruit and nut bites infused snacking brand infused with hemp-derived from CBD.
Brand Slam was created by Retail Voodoo to help CPG entrepreneurs in food, beverage, and wellness reduce their struggle with brand growth in the face of Covid-19. Using the auditing process models created by Retail Voodoo to develop Brand Ecosystems, (which we’ve used for some of the world’s most beloved brand and featured in the book Beloved & Dominant Brands,) we will benchmark Nature’s Nosh and provide strategies to help Liza and her team regain brand traction.
More About Nature’s Nosh: The idea for Nature’s Nosh came to founder Liza Cohen in 2017 (around the same time that she began culinary school), while vacationing with a friend’s family. On this trip, her friend’s mom would sneak away from her grown kids each morning to smoke CBD as her form of relaxation and pain-relief. The idea for Nature’s Nosh was immediately born and the mission was clear: They aim to remove the negative stigma associated with cannabis consumption while making it healthy and convenient for consumers to reap the natural benefits of this functional ingredient.
David Lemley
David was two decades into a design career with a wall full of shiny awards and a portfolio of clients including Nordstrom, Starbucks, Nintendo, and REI. His rocket trajectory veered when his oldest child faced a health challenge of indeterminate origin. Hundreds of research hours later, David identified food allergy as the issue and convinced skeptical medical professionals caring for his child. Since that experience, David and Retail Voodoo have been on a mission to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable food system for all.
Brigette Wolf is the Global Head of SnackFutures, Mondelēz International’s innovation and venture hub. She is a solutions-oriented, forward-thinking disruptor in the snacking space committed to reorienting the way food and beverage brands talk about snacking by making it a more holistic and wellness-oriented experience. She is on – a – mission.
Brigette and I discuss how she successfully led the development of this new SnackFutures division inside of Mondelēz, bringing global resources, teams, thinking and a new way of talking about healthy food inside the world of snacking.
In this episode, we learn:
Why Mondelēz took the plunge into better-for-you with SnackFutures, and what they’re up to.
How great teamwork and great culture have aided the success SnackFutures.
About the impact of SnackFutures sustainability initiatives.
What’s driving innovation in mainstream better-for-you snacking.
How serving consumers and employees adds value to the business.
What’s driving big CPG to better embrace healthy snacking, healthy eating and healthy lifestyles.
About the impact that Gen Z has on plant-based snacking.
Why we need to make healthy living affordable to all consumers.
Reimagining Well Being Snacking with Brigette Wolf, Mondelēz International
AboutBrigette Wolf:
Brigette Wolf is the Global Head of SnackFutures, Mondelēz International’s innovation and venture hub.
Since its creation in 2018, Brigette has led the creation of a cross-functional ecosystem of partners around the world, launched SnackFutures’ first market hub in Australia and created five completely new brands that are currently being piloted in the US and Europe.
Brigette has played a key role in advancing the company’s innovation agenda since its inception in 2012 serving as the senior director of Global Platform Innovation for Gum, Candy and Biscuits – leading the development and launch of Trident Vibes as well as brand manager for Belvita. Brigette’s history with the company also goes back to Kraft Foods with roles including the Global Innovation Manager for Oreo and working across several of the pizza and meal brands.
Prior to being part of the food industry, Brigette worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston.
Brigette received her undergraduate degrees from The University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School and her MBA from Northwestern Kellogg School of Management.
Mondelēze – Mondelez International, Inc., often stylized as Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company consisting of former Kraft Foods Inc brands. Owners of some of the most iconic brands in the world, including Oreo, Tang Tobelerone, Halls, Mirla, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Cadbury and more.SnackFutures – SnackFutures is Mondelēz International’s new innovation hub that is dedicated to unlocking emerging snacking opportunities around the world. SnackFutures will capitalize on new trends and mobilize entrepreneurial talent and technologies to build and grow small brands with large-scale potential, and leverage other growth opportunities across snacking.
Diana Fryc
For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.
Brand Slam Episode 3: Learning Where to Invest Marketing Funds as a Start-Up Food Brand
Learn the category audit techniques these leading brands have leveraged to average triple-digit growth.
In this episode you will meet Red Plate Foods founder, Becca Williams. As a true advocate for the allergen-avoidant community, Becca and her husband started Red Plate Foods to create a plethora of bakery-fresh desserts, and food-service favorite foods for an audience looking to avoid the top 8 most common food allergies.
Brand Slam was created by Retail Voodoo to help CPG entrepreneurs in food, beverage and wellness reduce their struggle with brand growth in the face of Covid-19. Using the auditing process models created by Retail Voodoo to develop Brand Ecosystems, (which we’ve used for some of the world’s most beloved brand and feature in the book Beloved & Dominant Brands,) we benchmark Red Plate Foods and provide strategies to help Becca gain brand traction and learn where to start on her plan for growth and brand traction.
David Lemley
David was two decades into a design career with a wall full of shiny awards and a portfolio of clients including Nordstrom, Starbucks, Nintendo, and REI. His rocket trajectory veered when his oldest child faced a health challenge of indeterminate origin. Hundreds of research hours later, David identified food allergy as the issue and convinced skeptical medical professionals caring for his child. Since that experience, David and Retail Voodoo have been on a mission to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable food system for all.
In today’s episode, we are joined by a highly accomplished retail executive with a proven track record in growing large scale businesses profitably and creating new business opportunities within brands, sharp business acumen with a keen ability to assess business conditions and manage towards opportunity with a relentless focus on the customer, Denielle Finkelstein, President and Co-Founder of TOP (the organic project). She is experienced in overseeing brand development and strategy, launching businesses, Omni-channel merchandising, marketing, international expansion and operations. She is also recognized as a passionate and strategic leader, known for relationship building.
Join us as we dive deep into healthy living, her organic business, plant-based organic period products and the challenges that come with being an entrepreneur and how to overcome them. We discuss the decisions that helped her leave the retail fashion world to focus on a passion and build a brand (from the ground up) to tackle the legacy taboo of period products, building a greener product and doubling down on the leadership and innovation that she’s been craving.
In this episode we learn:
The genesis of The Organic Movement (TOP) – organic/natural period products.
How Gen Z is changing the conversation around personal care and period products.
What plant-based innovation has been a game-changer for the brand and the industry.
How the leadership experience of a large retail brand helps, and hinders the start-up business process.
The challenges legacy conventional brands may have converting natural shoppers.
What period poverty is and how pervasive it is in the United States.
Denielle’s call to arms to major period product brands.
The Future of Plant Based Period Products with Denielle Finkelstein, TOP
About Denielle Finkelstein:
Denielle Finkelstein, President and Co-Founder of TOP (the organic project) was raised in Rhode Island and graduated from Union College in Schenectady, NY. Post graduation, she moved to NYC with her future husband and started her career in fashion retail at Ann Taylor. She went on to executive merchandising roles at Coach, Kate Spade and Talbots. She was always recognized for her strength in building businesses, finding the white space and managing high performing teams. At the height of her career, she began looking for more purpose in her work and how she could do things differently for future generations.
After spending 22 years in fashion retail and sitting in the C-suite, she took the best risk both professionally and personally and left the corporate world to join Thyme Sullivan, to launch TOP the organic project. As moms, they went searching for organic period products that were healthy and safe for their girls and the environment and came away empty-handed. They have set out to build TOP as a business to drive positive social and environmental change. TOP is bringing innovation to period products with Organic and Plant-based Tampons & Pads. What we put in and on our bodies matters more than ever!
Show Resources:
TOP (the organic project) – We are here to educate, enlighten, and embarrass ourselves so that every girl and woman on the planet has access to healthy, 100% organic, eco-loving tampons and pads. and every step of the way, we’ll inspire stigma-shattering conversations about periods.
Poo-Pourri – We’re Poo~Pourri. A poop-positive brand dumping the shame around the things we *all* do. We deliver quality products made with natural essential oils that leave the bathroom smelling amazing and liberate you from harmful ingredients and inhibiting worries.
Beautycounter – One by one, we are leading a movement to a future where all beauty is clean beauty. We are powered by people, and our collective mission is to get safer products into the hands of everyone. Formulate, advocate, & educate—that’s our motto for creating products that truly perform while holding ourselves to unparalleled standards of safety. Why? It’s really this simple: beauty should be good for you.
Diana Fryc
For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.
School closures – and tentative re-openings – have compounded stress levels for families, while COVID-19-induced economic anxiety is also straining household budgets. So how can food and beverage brands come up with enticing – but affordable – recipes, products and culinary solutions to make life easier for parents when long-established routines have been upended?
What does the ‘new normal’ look like for families and has this crisis given a boost to direct to consumer brands targeting babies, toddlers, and young children? Will the recent growth in interest in kids’ multivitamins continue, or is it risky to assume that buying patterns in 2020 provides a useful indicator of where consumers are heading in 2021?
Find out the answers at FoodNavigator-USA’s third Food for Kids summit – which is transitioning from our usual face-to-face event to an interactive broadcast series.
The series will bring five category-focused events, including:
The Consumer Panel
Kids and the Plant-Based Trend
Beverage Trends
Innovation in Action… Meet the Trailblazers
Meeting Children’s Nutritional Needs, from Foods to Supplements
David was two decades into a design career with a wall full of shiny awards and a portfolio of clients including Nordstrom, Starbucks, Nintendo, and REI. His rocket trajectory veered when his oldest child faced a health challenge of indeterminate origin. Hundreds of research hours later, David identified food allergy as the issue and convinced skeptical medical professionals caring for his child. Since that experience, David and Retail Voodoo have been on a mission to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable food system for all.
Every demographic group has faced its own set of challenges during the COVID-19 crisis, from health concerns to economic hardship to personal stress. But experts suggest that millennials have been hit especially hard.
So what you think you know about this demographic group—and how to reach them—may have changed in this unprecedented time.
First, let’s do a quick review of the generational breakdowns:
Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980) are the children of the Baby Boomers; the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Gen X would peak in population in 2018 with 65.8 million people. The youngest Xers are 40 this year.
Millennials (born from 1981–1996) are now the largest adult population in the U.S. They range in age between 24 and 39.
Gen Z (born from 1997–2015) ranges in age from 6 to 23; as of 2019, there were 67 million Zers in the U.S.
The Paradox of Millennials
The millennial generation has been heralded by marketers for its spending power. This cohort’s collective annual income is estimated to exceed $4 trillion worldwide by 2030. But these 20- and 30-somethings have always been a tricky bunch to market to, because they’re a giant walking paradox.
They consider themselves to be tastemakers, but they’re extremely price-conscious.
They want the finer things, but they’re putting off major purchases like cars and homes (preferring instead to lease or rent).
They’re interested in health and wellness, and are heavy consumers of natural food and beverage products, yet they’re more concerned about the results of those products than the products themselves. In other words, they’re willing to accept artificial sweeteners in pursuit of a keto lifestyle.
They want brands to uphold values they share, but they’re not willing to sacrifice convenience and price.
Just 30% say they feel loyal to certain brands, but that loyalty tends to be longstanding and powerful. We describe their loyalty as a slow burn—they fall in love with brands gradually over time; in the meantime, they’re willing to “date around” and try out other brands and products.
Millennials are Getting ‘Walloped’ by the Pandemic
Financial analysts and demographers suggest that millennials are being “disproportionally walloped” by the COVID crisis and its fallout, particularly related to employment.
“With this current recession, millennials — especially younger millennials — were more likely to lose their job than were older generations. And since millennials are more likely to rent than older generations, the looming eviction crisis will be worse for millennials, too.”
“The oldest millennials lived through the 9/11 terrorist attacks and entered the labor market in the recession that hit around the same time. They spent their early years struggling to find work during a job recovery, only to be hit by the Great Recession and another recovery. And, of course, yet another recession.”
Furthermore, millennials (particularly women) are assuming responsibility for managing school at home for their children. And they’re more likely than other generations to be returning to their parents’ home to live during the pandemic.
Is Your Pre-COVID Understanding of Millennials Still Relevant?
The short answer is, probably not.
Certain influential aspects of their buying behavior remain: They’re the first digitally native generation, so they’ve always been comfortable browsing and buying online. That preference has solidified during the crisis. And their desire for curated, personalized products and experiences hasn’t changed.
The key to increasing (or maintaining) your brand’s relevance with millennials in the new normal is this: Don’t go back to business as usual. This is the time to understand some new truths.
Millennials want brands to be more human—but still highly curated and well designed. (There’s that paradox again.) In other words, they want brands to reflect their own reality: put together on the outside, but also honest, real, and authentic.
As they’re tightening their belts, millennials are becoming even more price sensitive, even as pre-COVID research indicated that they were cost-conscious to begin with. They’re more inclined to buy private label products than before. And they have become more likely to join a loyalty program or use coupons (a 30% jump compared to pre-COVID habits). Previously, millennials shunned those discount programs because they were something their parents did. Now is absolutely the time to review your pricing, promotion, and loyalty strategies to respond to these changing consumer needs.
And if we combine the previous two points—outward appearances and value consciousness—we get a third change in millennial shopping habits. They’re still willing to pay a premium for technology, fashion, and CPG items that they believe help them to look or feel better even in these trying times. And they are cutting corners where they can on the stuff that nobody really sees—like pouring low-shelf booze into the empty bottle of premium vodka or wearing a designer shirt with sweatpants for a Zoom meeting.
As COVID has driven shopping online, it has forced brands to get savvier about delivering a great online experience to consumers. Millennials always had high expectations, and now that we’ve all been exclusively buying online for the past 8 months, the bar has been raised.
Brands must figure out how to reach all consumers—and especially to overdeliver for millennials. COVID has added friction to everything they do in their lives, from fitness and fashion to friends and family. Millennial women in particular are bearing the brunt of managing education for younger kids and sacrificing their productivity or career or self-care in order to keep the family solvent. The key to wooing them and winning that valuable long-term loyalty is to reduce the friction. Make it easy for them to find, choose, and learn to love you.
Your brand can’t afford to overlook or miscommunicate with this cohort, because the efforts you make now have a long tail with millennials. Let’s talk about how you can connect with them.
David Lemley
David was two decades into a design career with a wall full of shiny awards and a portfolio of clients including Nordstrom, Starbucks, Nintendo, and REI. His rocket trajectory veered when his oldest child faced a health challenge of indeterminate origin. Hundreds of research hours later, David identified food allergy as the issue and convinced skeptical medical professionals caring for his child. Since that experience, David and Retail Voodoo have been on a mission to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable food system for all.
In our current culture, alcoholic beverages have traditionally been the center of all celebrations. It’s how we wind down our day, relax and give ourselves a moment to rest. That is until now. Generation Z and Millennials are bucking those habits and finding better and healthier ways to relax. Part of it is self-awareness, the ability to recognize when alcohol is a crutch – rather than a treat, and some of it is “I’m not doing what my parents did”. They are normalizing alcohol-free celebrations, getting real about mental health, and creating an inclusive environment for everyone. It’s time for the sober revolution.
Sharelle Klaus and I walk through her journey of self-discovery, and the ins and outs of finding her and her brands true north. We discuss her passion to create inclusive celebrations for all people. And that sometimes, you just have to start all over.
In this episode we learn:
Sharelle’s aha moment that turned into DRY.
The story of teaming up with Sans Bar.
How Millennials and Generation Z are changing our relationship with alcohol consumption.
How to educate, socialize, and enroll behavior change for consumers.
How “bad news” can be the path to opportunity.
To trust your gut, even when you’re the only one in the room that believes it.
Changing Consumers Behavior Around Happy Hour with Sharelle Klaus, DRY Soda Company
About Sharelle Klaus:
Sharelle Klaus is the Founder and CEO of DRY Soda Company As the visionary behind DRY Soda Company, Sharelle has always had a passion for the culinary world and celebrating each part of a meal – including the beverage. After having four children, she didn’t want to let a lack of wine or cocktails stop her from being a part of the party. Klaus recognized an absence of refreshing, clean, non-alcoholic options in the market, and became determined to create the first line of botanical bubbly that was worthy of meal pairing. She believed savory and sweet flavors more commonly used in cuisine could offer exciting compliments to her favorite meals. In 2005, Klaus crafted the first batches of DRY in her home kitchen and officially launched DRY Soda Co. a few months later.
Klaus brings over two decades of entrepreneurial, financial and technology industry experience to her role as CEO at DRY, and oversees all marketing, strategic planning, and innovation for the brand. With guidance from some of the Pacific Northwest’s best chefs and a savvy corporate team, Klaus pioneered a new category of sparkling beverages, fearlessly leading DRY’s aggressive growth in a male-dominated industry. Prior to founding DRY, Klaus worked as a consultant for Infrastructure Management Group and Price Waterhouse. She also served as president of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, where she drove strategic development of programs, events, and fundraising for the organization’s 250+ Seattle-area members. Klaus has been featured by Huffpost, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Imbibe, and others. Klaus has also won several honors including,Seattle Business Magazine’s CEO of the year, Puget Sound Business Journal Women of Influence, and PSBJ 40 under 40.
With a keen appreciation for humor and wit, Klaus is an avid supporter of entrepreneurship and frequently speaks at professional conferences, workshops, and the University of Washington Business School, where she also participates as a judge for the Michael G. Foster’s School’s well-known business plan competitions. She is also a board member of the Aliados Foundation that builds resilient community business based on biodiversity in the Andes and the Amazon—and connect them to markets across the globe. Klaus graduated from Seattle Pacific University with an undergraduate degree in political science and currently resides in Seattle, Wash.
DRY – Welcome to DRY Botanical Bubbly! The non-alcoholic sparkling soda perfect for celebrating any occasion. Enjoyed on the rocks or in your favorite zero-proof cocktail.
Sans Bar – We are a growing group of average people who recognize that life can be fun without alcohol. We are sober, we are on the move, and we believe that real connection happens when people are sober. We want to create a space that is free of alcohol and welcoming to all. We believe that the best version of anyone’s life includes healthy socialization, helping others, and taking care of both mind and body. Sans Bar is composed of people who want to change themselves and the world around them. We believe positive change can happen in the smallest ways, and still yield a tremendous impact.
This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness & Change Your Life (Book) – offers a new, positive solution. Here, Annie Grace clearly presents the psychological and neurological components of alcohol use based on the latest science, and reveals the cultural, social, and industry factors that support alcohol dependence in all of us. Packed with surprising insight into the reasons we drink, this book will open your eyes to the startling role of alcohol in our culture, and how the stigma of alcoholism and recovery keeps people from getting the help they need. With Annie’s own extraordinary and candid personal story at its heart, this book is a must-read for anyone who drinks.
BevMo – a privately held corporation based in Concord, California, selling mainly alcoholic beverages.
Diana Fryc
For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.
We humans, especially in the naturals space, have desires to live strong clean, and healthy lives. My guest Jane is no different – however, her journey into the better-for-you space took a route many of ours don’t. A child born with food allergies added fuel to her entrepreneurial ways and inspired her to use her natural leadership ways to help move the free-from movement mainstream.
In this episode, Jane Pinto, founder of First Crop, Don’t Go Nuts, Sacred Sleep, and the Pinto Barn shares with me, her journey of developing brand ecosystems that are based on the foundations of reciprocal relationships. She challenges our thinking as brand owners and consumers to do one thing every day that holds our industry accountable for the claims we make and the passions and commitments we profess. And she reminds us that true leadership starts with the heart. Listen, learn, and get inspired!
In this episode we learn:
What sacred economics are and how companies can embrace this philosophy.
Why we should always believe that there is enough for everyone.
How to create brands using the foundations of love, transparency, and authenticity.
How being honest about your knowledge, abilities and your feelings can make you a better leader.
How to have courageous conversations with your consumers, customers, business partner, community and employees.
That it’s time to be bold, real, and fierce leaders.
It’s Time to Lead with Passion and Heart with Jane Pinto, Pinto Barn
About Jane Pinto:
Jane Pinto is founder of First Crop, Don’t Go Nuts, and Pinto Barn. She is a lifelong visionary in the naturals and wellness space building cultures of love and care, companies with strong missions that are devoted to healing and elevating people and the planet, and spent her entire career helping corporations create workplaces that honor unconditional equality. Her companies create innovative products and services that help people improve their lives through engaging with consciously created, uniquely designed products.
Pinto Barn– Founded in 2011, based in Salida, Colo., Pinto Barn is a collective of caring hearts who commit their energy, talents, and passion to consciously creating products that help people to live healthy, whole lives. Divisions include Don’t Go Nuts and Sacred Sleep.
Don’t Go Nuts– makes safe nut-free foods using organic, non-GMO ingredients that are good for you and good for the planet.
First Crop – A hemp and CBD brand with the mission of “Healing People and Planet one seed…one soul… one regenerative act at a time.”
Sacred Sleep – a division of Pinto Barn Inc., is a company dedicated to Lifestyle Sleep Wellness and to creating Sleep Sanctuaries to help people set intention around sleep. In addition to the new organic cotton and fair-trade alpaca collections, Sacred Sleep’s product offering includes luxury eucalyptus blend sheets and mattress covers, medicinal herb loose-leaf teas in daytime and nighttime blends, and custom locally made pottery mugs and tea bowls. Sleep is sacred, so are you.
Hilary’s Eat Well– is the creator of convenient and culinary foods that are made from real ingredients and are free from common allergens. We are helping to heal the American diet by bringing these foods to all people who seek tasty, nourishing cuisine. Our products forge innovative culinary paths and disrupt the status quo. We care about the health of our customers, employees and ecosystem.
EnjoyLife – Enjoy Life Foods is the leading brand in the growing Free-From category, featuring a robust portfolio of Certified Gluten Free and Non-GMO Project Verified products that are free-from 14 common allergens. Enjoy Life’s mission and brand promise is to deliver safe, better-for-you products free-from food allergens, but not free-from taste so everyone can Enjoy Life and Eat Freely!
Diana Fryc
For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.
Competing in the explosive nutritional supplement category is difficult enough. Without a compelling brand strategy, one that woos customers via your packaging, you’re fighting with both hands tied behind your back.
Powders, tablets, gummies: any product you can make can be made and sold for less by a competing brand or private label. Search “protein powder” on Amazon, and you’ll find 5,000+ results. There’s so much swirl in this space that it’s hard for any individual brand to gain notice.
A “Capital-B” brand can help you compete online and on shelf in the red-hot world of dietary supplements and natural products. And the way you tell your story, within the confines and rules that govern packaging in this category, can elevate you above commodity to “beloved and dominant” status.
Brand Is More than Ingredient or Form
Many marketers in this space conflate product and brand. But a brand is so much more than the product—ingredients or health benefits or diet trends. Your brand isn’t a powder or a pill. Rather, your brand is this: your promise and the way that you keep it.
So many brands in this category lean on flavors (tastes like a milkshake!), attributes (grass-fed collagen!), and ingredients (live probiotics!). But it’s easy for leaner, hungrier companies to introduce those same kinds of products. Soon, everyone starts competing on price, retailers drop the poor performers, and consumers aren’t loyal to any particular brand.
When your brand stands for something—it empowers the consumer or changes the world or rights a wrong—it becomes competitor- and future-proof. It can withstand changing consumer whims or dietary trends, because people who buy the brand love it and stay loyal no matter what. A strategic foundation enables the brand to innovate without risk, gain the upper hand in retail relationships, and attract an audience who feels the brand belongs to them (and vice versa).
When your brand story is your key competitive advantage, it’s essential to leverage that story where your customers are most likely to see it: on your packaging.
Telling Your Story on Packaging
The retail shelf—both digital and physical—is likely the first (maybe only) place a shopper will meet your brand. In a crowded environment where your labels have to work extra hard to communicate a litany of information, knowing what’s important to consumers—and what can be subordinated to the back panel—can give you an advantage that creates white space in your brand block.
Brand blocking is essential in a category populated by packages (bottles or boxes) that are uniformly shaped and sized. When your product lives on a shelf you don’t control in an environment you don’t control, a unified collection of products grouped together on the shelf creates a billboard for the brand that allows people to navigate the product offering easily.
Brand blocking happens at the outer level of the “30-10-3 Rule” of packaging design, which holds that a consumer product package has three key moments at which to engage a consumer, whether in store or online. At 30 feet, it needs to define the category; at 10 feet, it needs to make the brand name and story known; and at 3 feet, it has the opportunity to whisper in the consumer’s ear.
In the naturals and nutritional supplements category, there’s a ton of information required on packaging—so the 30-10-3 Rule establishes an accessible hierarchy. Remember, brand blocking’s role is to capture the shopper’s attention within the context of the category, not to identify her specific need/want/flavor/ingredient.
Living Intentions is an example of a natural product line that uses the 30-10-3 Rule very effectively to help consumers understand that activated foods (made from sprouted and raw ingredients) and superfoods help people live more vibrant, healthier lives. The brand’s packaging balances the most compelling points on the primary display panel and relegates everything that requires an explanation to the back of pack. The design uses simple icons to communicate complex concepts like bioavailability, live enzymes, minimal processing.
Photo provided by Retail Voodoo
Design for Online
For online brands like You Are The Anser!, packaging has to look great in the digital realm—on the plain white background of an Amazon search page, on the brand’s own website, and on Instagram. While You Are The Anser! has its own direct-to-consumer platform where storytelling wins the day, the brand effectively disrupts the Amazon shelf with design cues that might feel more at home in a salon. This does two things quickly: It invites inspection and demystifies the features and benefits by making them simple, uniform, and iconic.
Wedderspoon is another wellness brand that plays perfectly online. The authentic raw Manuka honey products look like gourmet food items, while many of the brand’s competitors more closely resemble vitamin supplement products. The brand created a proprietary “KFactor” label that specifies the product’s sourcing, a label that goes beyond industry standards for origin and purity. That marker stands out in a sea of competing products in an online search for “Manuka honey.” Finer details shift from the primary display panel to other areas (lid, back, and sides) so as to not break a golden rule in CPG: Design informs price.
Photo provided by Retail Voodoo
In e-commerce, design language is more important than size of your logo, because people search by category (e.g., collagen peptide, ashwagandha, or protein bar) and filter by brand. And unless your brand has already made a compelling promise to them, they will likely shop on price and or user review.
Be Just Enough Different
As marketers, we’ve done a great job of educating customers about what a product category should look like. Women’s nutritional supplements feature pink or purple graphics, maybe a flower, or a white background to signal purity. Protein powders aimed at men come in black or dark-gray tubs with gym-style lettering. Kids’ gummy vitamins are packaged in whimsical and bright colors.
Category norms like these help shoppers narrow down their choices—but also create a sea of sameness on shelf and online. So, there’s a balancing act here, between similar and standout. It’s important to match the contemporary visual lexicon of the nutritional products category—that 30-foot level—and at the same time to step to the forefront. That’s how brands become disruptive at retail.
A comprehensive category audit can provide stark evidence of where your brand lives in the space. As you’re searching for this balance, envision a grid with axes labeled “Good” and “Different.” Look for that sweet spot where you’re just enough different from every other brand.
As more and more consumers seek products that can help them live healthy lives, nutrition and wellness brands will inevitably keep flooding the market. Most of those won’t really be brands at all—just products with features and benefits. A compelling brand story, told strategically on packaging that plays in digital and real-world spaces, will separate the winners from the commodities.
David Lemley, author of the new book, Beloved & Dominant Brands, has had a creative and strategic hand in shaping some of the world’s most iconic brands including Starbucks, REI, Pampers, Sahale Snacks, Kar’s, and Nintendo. As the founder and chief strategist of Seattle-based Retail Voodoo, David is on a mission to help better-for-you brands win customer’s hearts, minds, and souls. He partners with marketers, investors, and founder-owners to unlock the power of their brand’s promise to engage consumers, spark innovation, identify opportunity, and drive exponential growth. David has spoken and written for: National Retail Federation, BevNet, BrandPackaging, Adweek, and Nutritional Outlook, to name a few. Contact him: david@retail-voodoo.com
David Lemley
David was two decades into a design career with a wall full of shiny awards and a portfolio of clients including Nordstrom, Starbucks, Nintendo, and REI. His rocket trajectory veered when his oldest child faced a health challenge of indeterminate origin. Hundreds of research hours later, David identified food allergy as the issue and convinced skeptical medical professionals caring for his child. Since that experience, David and Retail Voodoo have been on a mission to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable food system for all.
Today is not like yesterday, and tomorrow will be different still. It’s going to be this way for a while; we just don’t know how long.
Among the multitude of companies, brands, consultants, and friends offering advice during this crisis, we offer these insights and reassurances for better-for-you brand leaders.
What this Crisis Looks Like for BFY Brands
Different market sectors in the U.S. economy are being affected in wildly different ways: healthcare is overextended, foodservice and hospitality are in dire straits, finance is swinging wildly. CPG and retail industries are reacting to acute changes in consumer behavior, shopper demands, and supply chain challenges.
We predict that in the short term, BFY brands (especially shelf-stable products backed by a strong supply chain and distribution model) will see an uptick in sales. We also think that gain will taper off as pantry-stocking is no longer urgent, but household inventory becomes normalized.
Post-crisis, business will be challenging for any brands that
have rested on their laurels
became overconfident thanks to the uptick in sales
hunkered down and waited for the crisis to pass
Outward-Facing Leadership for BFY Brands
For 15 years, we have been declaring that brands are the new religion—because people look to them for personal identity and shared values in the way previous generations looked to churches, social clubs, universities, and extended family.
Brand leaders, here’s your opportunity to prove yourself worthy.
How (and Where) to Talk to Your Customers
Let’s begin with two things you should absolutely not do right now:
Go silent
Go into selling mode
Your overarching message to your consumers right now should be something like this: “We are all in this together, and together we will get through.” Present your vision for a better tomorrow that emerges from this crisis. Don’t sell to them; show them small acts of love.
If you haven’t yet, quickly update your website with a message that reinforces your brand’s ethos, the values you share with your community, and a sense of calm confidence. Talk about what you’re doing to help, and encourage your fans to follow your lead. Don’t add to the collective freakout.
Your communication and marketing strategies have to pivot now, in all platforms of the Brand Ecosystem. Set aside the plans and campaigns you outlined six months ago so your messaging doesn’t sound tone-deaf. Remove the hard sell from your paid media and social communication. Be helpful in tangible ways.
In general, you shouldn’t alter your brand’s voice at this time, unless your natural tone is deliberately smart-aleck. Set aside the snark for the time being and find the lightness in our current reality. For example, our client Lesser Evil softened its usually wise-cracking tone to a more gentle silliness about things their audience is encountering now. In short, think of how your personal conversations have shifted — people are encouraging each other, finding the wry humor in weird situations, helping each other solve daily problems like staying active and home-schooling.
It may be a good time for the brand to take action, but make sure whatever you do is in the spirit of your brand’s mission. Recognize that consumers are worried, cooped up, uncertain about the future. Look to social causes or charitable acts that ease those broader concerns — for example, by donating products to food pantries or school lunch programs. In the Seattle area, Tom Douglas Restaurants recently hosted a drive-through salmon bake for charity.
Brands can express gratitude for those people who are on the front lines — first responders, medical professionals, grocery workers, delivery drivers, road-side assistance drivers, the list is huge. This can be national, but it makes a bigger impact if it’s local to the community where the brand lives.
Finally, Words of Encouragement from Retail Voodoo
This is the third economic recession our business has weathered, and we know a thing or two because we’ve not only survived but have encouraged the brands we work with to think about their contribution rather than their spreadsheet at times like this.
Personally, I am taking my own advice, so my days are actually longer and busier now than normal. I’m encouraging and leading my team, my clients, my client-to-be, and my family. And while I’m not practicing the self-care that I regularly preach. I’m focused on giving and helping; I don’t have time to freak out.
I keep telling people that if we emphasize the negative, we can and will talk ourselves into making it worse (the stock market volatility is a perfect example). But if we can stay positive and encourage and care for others (instead of hoarding supplies and fearmongering), we will be stronger, happier, and a better version of ourselves than we were yesterday.
Brand leaders, now is the time to plan a stronger future. The world needs brands to reassure us, to love us where we are, and to inspire us to live our best lives in the midst of uncertainty. We need brands to prove to us they are citizen-brands, committed to doing good for all humankind.
Remember: To become beloved, you must love first.
Are you interested in talking to David about your unique situation? Drop us a line.
David Lemley
David was two decades into a design career with a wall full of shiny awards and a portfolio of clients including Nordstrom, Starbucks, Nintendo, and REI. His rocket trajectory veered when his oldest child faced a health challenge of indeterminate origin. Hundreds of research hours later, David identified food allergy as the issue and convinced skeptical medical professionals caring for his child. Since that experience, David and Retail Voodoo have been on a mission to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable food system for all.
