Check out our new, refreshed look!
While this isn't a full rebrand since most of the core elements of the gr8nola brand are largely the same such as my logo, colors, font and bag layout, I did make very intentional and specific enhancements to help my product sell better in my newest channel: retail.
Read on to learn what the impetus was for this refresh, what's changed and most importantly, why.
Last fall, I started to actively pursue retail (aka grocery stores) and quickly grew my door count from 5 to 60+ stores. As gr8nola got into more stores, I started doing lots of demos (where I sample my product to customers in store) with the goal of driving brand awareness. Not only is this a gr8 way to push immediate sales, it’s also a quick way to get instant customer feedback.
So, what’d I learn?
Just like my beginning days at the farmer’s market, people instantly fell in love with the product once they tried it. However, I quickly realized that my packaging could “work itself” better, especially when I’m not there in person sampling and when it’s sitting on a shelf amongst a sea of other brands (which is 99% of the time).
This redesign became my obsession for a couple of months, and I’m excited to share that my new packs are finally making their debut into the “wild” -- both on shelves and online. Here’s what’s new:
1. New, more appealing flavor names
Charcoal Chia is now Black Coco Chia, Golden Turmeric is now Golden Spice, Coco Cacao is now Cacao Crisp and Matcha Green Tea is now Matcha Vibes. I learned from demoing that while charcoal and turmeric are very “in” and desired for their functional benefits, they don’t score high in consumers’ minds when it comes to perception of taste. During demos, people would sometimes be apprehensive to try them simply due to their names, but once I convinced them to sample, they were instantly sold. (After all, activated charcoal is tasteless, the turmeric is subtle and these flavors are customer faves). So I changed their names to make these flavors sound more approachable and tasty, while cacao and matcha were tweaked to sound more fun and appealing. OG and Cinnamon Chai are still the same.
2. More real estate to market the gr8ness inside
You’ll also notice that my window has changed to a semi-circle instead of a full circle shape to provide more space to market the flavor. First, the increased real estate allows consumers to more easily distinguish one flavor from another on the shelf. Moreover, with the addition of a visual graphic and list of key ingredients right upfront, consumers can quickly see what's inside and perceive what the flavor might taste like without ever having to pick up or turn around the bag.
3. Delicious & Clean Granola → Superfood Granola
During the design process, I received some unsolicited feedback about my old tagline -- people didn’t want to be told whether a product is delicious or not because they wanted to decide for themselves, and the word “clean” sounded a bit clinical. Since my flavors are anchored on healthy, nutrient-dense ingredients, aka superfoods, I felt that leaning into this word instead of using subjective and unclear ones like “delicious" and "clean” was more clear to the consumer, marketable and unique.
4. Slight pack size reduction from 11.5oz to 10oz
Making margins work in the food industry (especially in retail) can be really tough for a small brand. Since I started my business nearly 7 years ago, I haven’t raised my website prices, even though shipping, labor and cost of goods have increased over the years. Rather than raising my pricing or shipping costs to consumers, I reduced my pack size slightly to keep my pricing flat. This ultimately allows me to have a healthier, more sustainable business (so I can continue to grow my business vs. put me out of business ;) and allows me to stay competitive with other emerging granola brands in the market, which you’ll often see are in 10oz size packs or less, retailing for the same SRP price on shelf.
NOTE (As of May 2, 2020): This will be a "rolling" change for some flavors (like matcha), pack sizes (like minis) and platforms (like Amazon) since I have to sell through some old bags and existing inventory.
Oh, one more thing on the design... I asked this before: Once you go black, can you go back? Well, in the gr8nola world, yes! As you can see, I converted Black Coco Chia (aka Charcoal Chia) back to a purple pack to have better design consistency across the entire set. With the new design, both aesthetically and for “brand-blocking” reasons, I truly believe this was the right decision. But again, in the world of entrepreneurship there are no rules, and everything is subject to change :) .
What do you guys think of the pack change? I'd love any and all feedback!
