A Revolution in Nutmilk

——— Brand Direction & Design ———

Nuez NutmilkFresh Frozen Organic Nutmilks

Lauren, the founder of Nuez, came to me with a common challenge — she had an awesome product, in a unique niche, and was driven by real purpose & vision — the only issue being that her current packaging & identity did not reflect these truths. The real task would be in articulating the brand story, sharing the intention, quality & advantages in offerings, and communicating this difference & value to the target.

Photography by TristanCasey.com 

Brand Strategy

Brand Purpose
Brand Values
Brand Essence
Brand Position
Core Messages

Art Direction

Visual Language
Core Themes
Design Cues
Image Direction
Perception, Tone, Voice

Brand Identity

Brand Langauge
Packaging System
Typography
Logomark
Iconography

Digital Presense

Story Website
Campaign Design
Email Marketing
Content Creation
Content Writing

How do we radically differentiate this innovative product from the crowded almond milk space?

How do we present the high-value of this nutrient-dense "real nutmilk" relative to the other boxed milks.

How do we express the audiences' aspiration to create home-made fresh nutmilk (but without all the work).

How do we leverage the primal associations to this fundamental beverage (milk) alternative.

AudienceWants an easy, quick, yet nutrient-dense milk alternative — sick and tired from all the fake non-food ingredients in their boxed almond milk.

CompetitorsBoxed nutmilks (from big industrial beverage co) with a list of preservatives, thickeners, non-food ingredients a mile long. Other small local producers making fresh nutmilk daily, with a 1-2 day shelf-life.

PerceptionFresh, pure, hand-made with only the best organic and fair-trade ingredients — delicious and nutritious.

ToneHealth conscious, vital, responsible for what we are putting in our bodies. Fresh, natural, wholeness and nutrition – preserved.

ImageGlowing, natural, radiant, beauty food. Pure, simple, and 100% real nutmilk.

VisualsRefresh brand identity, packaging and website. Create expressive typography, emblematic of fun, delicious nature. High-quality photography to speak to the audiences desire to make the most luxurious and nutritious nutmilk.

PersonalityInnovative & fun, but back to the Earth. Idyllic super natural farmer's market mama. No nonsense. Straightforward. Just the real thing.

MessageNuez is Real Nutmilk.

StoryBetter than boxed nut milks — No additives, no fillers, no stabilizers, no dairy, no soy, no carrageenan, no xanthan gum.


CORE PURPOSE

“To provide honest and true, real food, without any junk fillers, so to holistically nourish ourselves and our community.”

Through discussion, reflection and time, we were able to distill and define the Core Brand Values, a set of guiding principles or stars, so core to the brand that if even one of these values changed, the brand would cease to exist.

CORE VALUES

1

No more fake food

2

Organic and Fair-trade

3

Always fresh — when you make it

4

Delicious & Nutritious

BRAND PROMISE

“Nuez Fresh Organic Nutmilks are Raw, Fair-Trade, Cold-Pressed — Starting with Only the Highest Quality Real Whole Food Ingredients.”


BRAND ESSENCE

“Nuez Is Real Nutmilk”


UNDERSTANDING THE AUDIENCE

How well do we know the culture, the audience members, and the community?— Who are they?— What do they want?— How do they belong?— Why is it so important to them?

Customer Identity — Who They Are

Busy mom's, care-givers, members of community and family, focused on eating for nourishment and joy, real-food lovers, creating and spreading well-belong; sharing the positive energy with their loved ones; circulating a practical understanding of how we can act as prosumers so we can care for self and family, as well as make a positive impact towards supporting the health of our planet;

Interested in making it from scratch, but just don't have the time to invest. Wanting the benefits of good fats, minerals, and nutrients. Learning how to support and grow a secure sustainable local food-system; creating strong family and social ties; enjoy respecting all natural beings, plants and animals, with whom we share this biosphere of Planet Earth; creating healthy happy memories with friends and family; making a positive contribution to the community.

Customer Aims — What They Want

Delicious everyday ritual; home-made food culture; "blend and enjoy" simple nourishment, with whole foods. Want a fatty base to make their smoothies completely dreamy. Wants real natural milk alternatives with non of the no fillers, preservatives, or other junk non-food ingredients.

fast and easy food to take on the go or make any meal or snack more complete; support local farms and farmers; help reduce waste and save our planet; political statement for environment; symbol of conscious consuming, and caring parent or peer.

Customer Mores — How They Below

Are tribal but self-assured; often disagree with majority views; have strong opinions on what it means to participate and contribute to a healthy conscious community; believe strongly in building a better future for the next generation; care about the source and quality of products they choose; will avoid large-scale industrial foods and other products which are not produced in harmony with the human and animal planet.

Wish for themselves, friends and family to be, act and consume sustainably; are outspoken and articulate; avoid fast-food and junk-filled low-brow foods and culture; want to be seen as a leader and influential positive contributor within their family home, at work, in peer group and in community; will stand-up for what they believe in; join community activities.

BRAND POSITIONING

Hand-Made Starting With Only Simple Food Ingredients. We developed Nuez Nutmilks for the nutritionally conscious consumer seeking a delicious & nutritious creamy alternative milk—whether for your coffee, cereal, smoothie, or your own creation. We share your belief that food should be made the old-fashioned way: in a kitchen, not a laboratory, using actual food ingredients.

VALUE PROPOSITION

To provide the conscious food consumer — taking responsibility for what they put in their body — looking for whole simple real food, grown and produced ethically, that will nourish their whole self.

with the ability to easily & quickly make real home-made quality nutmilk fresh whenever they want, to feel nourished. 

This is NOTHING like Boxed Nutmilk. This Means No Additives, No Fillers, No Stabilizers, No Dairy, No Soy, No Carrageenan, No Xanthan Gum. Just More Real Nuts, More Good Fats, More Bio-Available Nutrients, and More True Flavour.

STRATEGIC CONCEPTUAL APPROACH

STRATEGY

A Revolution in Nutmilk: Nuez Fresh Frozen. We would be tasked to launch the Nuez Fresh Frozen Concentrate, a brand new process to freeze our fresh nutmilk — immediately after cold-pressing — naturally locking in the freshness, nutrients and increasing the shelf-life without the use of any additives or preservatives. With our innovative frozen product, your customers can now make fresh nutmilk easily & conveniently — in seconds, whenever they want it— without any of the time or waste of traditional fresh nutmilks.

DIRECTION

Real Nutmilk, no compromise. The package identity and marketing information should clearly contrast NuezMilk with the boxed garbage. Easy, friendly, bubbly, and delicious. A real treat for the eyes, mind and body.  Speaking to richness in good fats, minerals and vibes.

ACTIVATION

This is NOTHING like boxed nutmilk. We would develop a pure & simple identity across the line, lead by sturdy accessible typography, with bold simple presentation in black on white, with almond or hazelnut patterns, and up-front large product name typeface and setting, would become the defining product face on the shelf.

In food, especially prepared-foods, the package itself becomes the identity. Within the grocery landscape, a hyper-stimulating sparkly over-communicated environment, where each package is screaming at the top of its lungs at you, biding for your attention. They're using every graphic element of emphasis, every bevel, highlight, shadow and stroke as possible to lure the consumer into the highly packaged, mostly for-entertainment, hyper-processed fake-food trap, which lies behind the load graphics, shiny foil and plastics. We would vow to do it differently. We would set out to be the antithesis to the boxed nutmilk industry — no more thickeners, additives, fillers, stabilizers, soy, carrageenan, xanthan gums  — and this would remain our north star while designing and developing the concept, the messaging, the package, the label, the story, in developing the content and sharing our "Real Nutmilk" experience.

We knew we had to stand-out on the self, and be true to self, because it had to reflect the distinct concept and unique selling proposition. Right from the early conception, we would want to be doing things very differently from the norm. No shipping across borders, no fumigation, no warehouse storing under fluorescent lights, no bad-energy on the food. No garbage fillers or fake food ingredients. Just real, nutrient-dense, delicious superfoods. Developing and designing a bold simple presentation, with emphasis on the large product name, straightforward naming convention and type-setting, would lead us to building a defining product and brand identity, and face of product on the shelf. We would add the product story, with long-copy detailing What is Fermentation? and Why Fermentation?The composition of the label, the typography, the ivory uncoated card stock and black-ink only printing, all speak in a voice, with a personality — as a whole would have to reflect the integrity and transparency in sourcing and production, should embody the farmer, the feeling of being straight from the farm, back-to-the-earth revival of local organic, honest and hard-working fermented veggies. Naturally, mid-century functionalism and work ethic, of Today Sans, with its plump sturdy forms, with a warmness of character and friendly accessible voice. Simple and structured bold typographic grid, consistent setting, composition reinforced this steady reliable voice, heavy headlines, rule-marks and icon-set to guide and provide scannable entry points to longer copy. We would lead with this Typography-first system, as simple as possible, with divine invisible details, for people to read, learn and contemplate, to reflect the level of thought and intention put into the product itself.

We would go on to produce an entire line of product stories and packaging design. We grew a design language to express the aspirational identity of our audience. Created campaigns for product launches and seasonal sales. Built-out website & shop, as well as create the content & writing to be shared via social media and email D2C campaigns.

DESIGN VALUE CREATION

1

Innovation in Production

Lauren, the brilliant founder and food-designer at Nuez, came up with the fresh frozen production process, as a necessary innovation, to create a naturally shelf-stable for up to 6-months without any preservatives, promoting less waste, allowing cafes and home barristas the ability to easily make fresh real nutmilk whenever they want — simply blend & enjoy.

75%

Increase in Retail Value

By packaging the fresh frozen innovation into a simple and bold identity, with clearly articulated value proposition, differentiation from boxed nutmilks, and the product just being absolutly delicious, thick and creamy — we were able to increase the perceived value of the frozen product, from 8$ to 14$ per litre, because of increased perception of quality, integrity (no fake food ingredients), and nourishing healing fats. Both wholesale and retail clients were able to understanding the clear advantages — fresher product, less waste, wholistic health.

500%

Increase In Demand

By articulating and contrasting the 30% of almonds in NuezMIlk, versus 2% almonds in most boxed milks, we were able to clearly express the value of Nuez — and the extra benefits of more nuts, more good fats, more bio-available nutrients, more true flavour — to resonated with the high-end cafes, who are wanting to provide the very best alt-milk experience for their customers. We went from producing 50L per batch to 300L per batch. A 500% increase in Food-Service Wholesale Demand. And 390% Increase in Retail Demand.