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Deep In The Weeds
This page is dedicated to the ridiculously detailed breakdown of a few case studies.
Enter at your own risk.
B'stro/Artisan Bistro
Case Study Details
Artisan Bistro Foods, Inc. ("AB") brands and products were established in 2003. While working with AB as a contractor Julian identified the need for an immediate brand refresh, product line expansion and collateral alignment.
In order to stay relevant and competitive AB turned to Julian to lead this effort, bringing him on as a full time executive to lead this comprehensive evolution, until it's sale in 2015.
1. Titles & Core Duties
- CCO (Executive Creative Director)
- CBO (Chief Brand Officer)
- Brand Evolution & Messaging Lead
- Identify and Resolve Brand Weaknesses
- Collateral Design, Development, Illustration & Photography
- 3rd Party Management (Contractors, Partners, Production)
- Product Development
- Packaging Strategy, Design & Production
- Identity Strategy, Design & Production
- Consumer Tribe Identification, Analysis & Communication
- Marketing & PR Development
- Interdepartmental Coordination & Management
- Trend Analysis, Approach & Foresight
2. Key Challenges
- Conduct introspective exploration to redefine the brand's Who, What and Why.
- Redefine social cachet, the brand personality, emotional and functional benefits.
- Evolve the brand and its collateral to tell a clear story, have a unique and singular core brand message, feel fresh and address emerging competitive challenges.
- Identify, define and better understand AB's consumer tribes and brand fans and develop more effective communication strategies (including social media).
- Understand how AB's tribe's brand views have changed and why.
- Redesign and align touch-points, brand messages and identity.
- Identify new opportunities to expand product lines and increased competition.
- Provide foresight and new strategies to address developing trends.
- Differentiate the brand and design using as much existing design collateral as possible to stay within an extraordinarily aggressive budget and timeline.
- Integrate perpetual innovation and evolution strategies into workflow.
- Streamline production process and cross-silo collaboration.
3. Solutions & Results
Through tailored brand evolution and brainstorming workshops and research methodologies (including ethnography, shop-alongs and interviews), Artisan Bistro Foods, Inc. has been reborn an aligned, share-worthy brand. Julian evolved the company’s core positioning strategy and designed it to function as a living brand. In a consumer research session conducted by a primary competitor, information leaked that the AB packaging was selected as the most desirable and most likely to pick off the shelves to investigate and to consider for purchase.
4. Evolution
The Artisan Bistro's brands underwent a major overhaul, including the brand names and identity design (see "THE BRAND"section for details). A sub-brand consolidation was performed to simplify the brand experience. A multi-stage packaging and identity evolution strategy was implemented to ease the transition for consumers.
5. Target Consumer Tribe
We identified the primary target consumer tribe as "Chief Wellness Officers" ("CWO") who are eco-minded, health-conscious foodies looking for a quick and easy alternative to eating out. These individuals belong in one of three sub-groups: Family CWO, Foodie CWO and Food Rx CWO. All share numerous common traits, desires and goals but each have different motivations. (see TARGET CONSUMER TRIBE section for details)
6. Brand Reach
- After defining the target consumer tribe, we focused our brand to reach each of the three CWO sub-groups and to connect emotionally with them through:
- Redesigning product packages
- Developing new brand messages and product line
- Discontinuing or improving outdated collateral
- Approaching healthy food from a new and unique angle
- Exceeding CWOs expectations in all 3 of the primary brand reach goals: 1) Unique & Intriguing, 2) Consistently Delicious, 3) Healthy
- Updating the corporate lobby design to be an interactive, wine country-inspired tasting room experience, to encourage brand engagement for consumers and employees alike
- Creating new social media, PR campaigns and on-line presence to better converse with consumers, generating over 100 million impressions in popular media outlets
7. Our goal for the ever-expanding CWO consumer base was to:
- Communicate more clearly to the "Family CWOs"
- Expand strategies to address the "Foodie CWOs"
- Turn "Food Rx CWOs" into AB advocates
8. Retail Markets
Product launches in 15,000+ retailers and food service outlets in the USA and Canada, including Whole Foods, Wegmans, Target, Costco, Albertsons, Ahold, Sprouts and Bristol Farms.
9. Launched 14 new categories, 100+ products and 17 product lines including co-packing/strategic partnerships were launched.
Natural & Conventional foods retail
Home delivery
Prescriptive medical retail
Food service
Big box retail
Convenience retail
10. Target Consumer Tribe
Chief Wellness Officers (“CWO”) were the primary target consumer tribe. CWOs are health minded behavior influencers who share numerous common traits, desires & goals.
Commonalities
- Desire interesting, delicious, convenient meals
- Seek healthy meal alternatives for self and loved ones
- Advocate healthy lifestyles
- Make decisions based on research
- Read package labels
- Desire personal transformation
Sub-Group Primary Motivation
- Family CWO: Seek healthy options for self & family
- Foodie CWO: Seek healthy alternatives to eating out
- Food Rx CWO: Seek healthy food as medicine for healing, prevention or weight-loss
11. The Brand
- WHAT: Modern prepared food
- WHO: "Chief Wellness Officers" & "Frozen Foodies"
- WHY: Frozen food can be healthy, sustainable, sophisticated, easy & delicious
12. Messages
- Modern food craft
- Modern twist on culinary classics
- Global, regionally inspired cuisine
- A culinary road trip
- Artisan-crafted frozen foodie fare
- We freeze to please
- Farm-to-freezer
- New American take-out
13. Personality
- Part artisan, part bistro
- Appropriately sophisticated
- Approachable (rustic, casual)
- Trust-worthy & reliable
- A bit fun & surprising
14. Attributes
- Healthy & balanced
- Sustainable & responsible
- Accessible
- Easy
- Enticing
- Modern, international fusion
- Delicious
- Made in USA
- New twist on the familiar
- Organic & gluten-free options
- Inspired by regional heritage & authenticity
15. Trends Addressed
- Sustainable
- Local
- Simple
- Farm-to-table
- "Real" Ingredients
- Whole foods
- Minimally processed
- Quicker "slow food"
- Honest natural foods
- Recognizable ingredients
- Family business
- Casual dining
- Affordable sophistication
- Foodie culture
- Gluten-free
16. Tribe Expectations
To successfully compete for CWO dollars, the brand must excel in ALL three of these areas: Unique/Intriguing, Consistently Delicious and Healthy.
If the tribe's expectations are not consistently exceeded in any one of these three areas, the other two are rendered mute.
17. Significant Demographics
- 55% Women
- 45% Men (fast growth)
- $5OK+ Annual Income
- Well-Educated
18. Packaging Evolution
- Brand aligned visuals
- Quick read nutritionals
- Easier to read ingredients
- Box content clarified
- Food safety requirements updated
- Brand messages integrated
- Food shown actual size
- Meal categories clearly defined
- New attribute strategy
- New call-out strategy
- Consumer engagement encouraged
- Cross-promotional elements
- Simplified instructions
- Clearer labeling
- Designated spaces for package add-ons
- Consistency addressed
- Environmental call-outs
- Wine & beer pairing guide
19. Accolades (Artisan Bistro Foods, Inc.)
- Featured in popular media including:
- (TV) ABC’s Good Morning America
- (TV) Fox Business
- (TV) NBC’s Today Show
- (TV) Bravo TV's TV OK
- Business Week
- BuzzFeed News
- Cosmopolitan Magazine
- Fitness Magazine
- Prevention Magazine
- Self Magazine
- Wall Street Journal
- Women’s Health Magazine
- 100+ Blogs
- Health Magazine
- People Magazine
- Achieved #1 RANKED BRAND in natural channel and #7 ranked brand in conventional channel
- SPINS Brand Rank Report 2014, meat/poultry/seafood entrées category
- VIDEO: Artisan Bistro & Kyle Richards from Housewives of Beverly Hills on TV OK, Bravo TV
- VIDEO: Artisan Bistro & Kyle Richards on Fox Business, Fox TV
Digilock
Case Study Details
1. Introduction
- Digilock is a global leader in high-performance security solutions using patented keypad and RFID technologies.
- Founded in 1981 and partnership with Julian Peck and Zoe Design Associates in 2002.
2. Key Personnel and Core Duties
- Creative Director: responsible for overseeing the evolution of Digilock's brand and messaging, identifying and resolving brand weaknesses, competitive research, collateral design and development, and trend analysis.
- Sr. Industrial Designer: responsible for product development, industrial design, user interface design, user experience design, identity design and development, and manufacturing, sourcing, and materials support.
3. Key Challenges
- Identify brand and product weaknesses and propose evolution strategies.
- Re-define brand personality and functional benefits.
- Drive, design and inspire the evolution and expansion of the Digilock brand and all its touch-points.
- Evolve the products and brand collateral to tell a consistent story, convey a clear brand message, feel fresh, defy emerging competition and advance new technologies.
- Identify new opportunities to expand product lines and respond to a changing market and increased competition.
- Create enduring signature brand aesthetic and evolution strategy.
- Explore competitive landscapes and provide insight (consumer, trends, competition, technology, manufacturing, materials, field studies, user environments).
- Improve brand experience and product interfaces.
- Develop new products using Digilock's patents.
4. Solutions and Results
- The company re-defined, focused and aligned the brand and key messaging to modern, minimal, and secure.
- Simplified and patented the digital keypad interfaces, including new RFID and touch-pad technologies.
- Designed enduring signature brand aesthetic that was functional and beautiful using sustainable and recyclable materials.
- Collaborated with Digilock's in-house engineers to ensure product reliability for a minimum of 10 years.
- Expanded the original product line and developed 14 new lines.
- Identified new opportunities including lockers, furniture locks, all weather locks, secure mail storage, residential and commercial door locks, etc.
- Designed and implemented multiple lock technologies for different user scenarios.
- Developed ADA compliant products.
- Fostered new partnerships with Steelcase and Herman Miller.
- Products are so iconic, successful and influential they are constantly being replicated around the world.
- Sales for Celáre, the locker/lock line quadrupled during the 2013 fiscal year.
- Dozens of patents awarded.
5. Key Insights
- Restrictive and forgettable brand identity.
- Functional but unappealing and generic products.
- Multiple untapped opportunities with significant growth potential.
- Growing consumer desire for high quality, stylish, high-tech locks, storage and entry security for commercial and residential venues.
6. The Brand
- Brief description of Digilock's cutting-edge digital security for B2B.
- Target industries, messages, personality, and product attributes.
- Accolades, including awards and positive feedback from customers.
7. Conclusion
- Digilock has become the #1 premium digital lock company in North America and Europe.
- ZDA designed all but the first of Digilock's products in production to date.
- Digilock's products are tough, safe & secure, cutting-edge, high-tech, timeless, simple, modern/progressive, universal, and eco-responsible.
Toro Cellars - Terry Bradshaw
Case Study Details
1. Introduction
- Background: Terry Bradshaw's personal financial group looking to invest in Italian vineyards.
- Objective: Create a wine brand and product line combining Bradshaw's passions for wine and football.
2. Roles and Core Duties
- Creative Development Lead
- Product Opportunity Discovery
- Brand Development
- Collateral Design
- Packaging Strategy & Design
- Identity Strategy & Design
- Consumer Tribe Identification
- Trend Analysis, Approach & Foresight
3. Key Challenges
- Proving that wine can be marketed and sold to football fans
- Using Terry Bradshaw's celebrity status as a wine marketing tool
- Identifying potential wine market for football fans
- Discovering what is important to the football tribes relating to the wine industry
- Defining the social cachet, the brand personality, and the functional benefits
- Creating an enduring, pragmatic, signature brand aesthetic
- Positioning the brand and products to address negative comments
- Creating unique and attention-getting products in a cluttered industry
- Identifying new opportunities to build product lines
- Making the wines desirable in the off-season as well as on game days
- Designing a delicious, nuanced, and affordable product
- Overcoming a snobby wine stigma and relating to a sporty consumer
- Making the products acceptable, demystified, and cool for traditional game-day festivities
4. Solutions and Results
- Applying Terry Bradshaw's existing brand equity to the packaging
- Using football terminology in the packaging to connect with football fans
- Creating an identity that was a play on the familiar football player metaphor
- Developing an abstract, faceted, simple, and slightly sporty logo
- Describing flavor notes on the rear label to reinforce an unpretentious but honest wine experience
- Applying Mr. Bradshaw's signature to each label
- Addressing the trend toward an elevated and premium yet casual experience
- Developing specific packaging design and branding features that specifically address the football tribe's needs and desires
- Creating a unique "bottleneck flag" on the Toro "classic & reserve bottles"
- The concepts were well-received; however, Mr. Bradshaw's financial group decided not to pursue a wine industry business in any form and the brand was never launched. The Toro project continues to remain one of my favorite brand development experiences.
SLO Sessions
Case Study Details
1. Tag Line:
Recovery + Support + Balance
Core Messages For Prospective Guests/Members (Slogans):
- Rethinking Recovery
- Live Your Best Life
- Our Guidance, Your Path
- Health, Pride, Happiness
- Life Is In Session
- Recover Your Pride, Health and Happiness
- Alive, Healthy & Happy
- Your Pride and Happiness Specialists
- Recovery Specialists
- Rethinking Recovery and the Path to Happiness → Reclaim Your Pride & Happiness
- You deserve to find your pride and happiness too → Better you, Better Life
- Live Balanced
- Guidance tailored to your needs
- It’s OK, to not be OK
- It’s Not Like AA
- Recovery is not a one-size-fits all bureaucratic system. It’s all about you.
- It’s all about you, only you.
- If the system has failed you, we can help.
- If you don’t know how or where to begin, we will help.
- Innovative strategies to figure out the best way to help your specific needs and desires → We treat our guests and employees like good friends
- Life is happening right now, don’t miss out on the good stuff.
- Your Path, Your Choice
2. Brand Messages 2 (Key Website Information)
Value and Benefits to Guests:
- We provide a community and a comfortable safe
- space.
- Addiction recovery coaching & guidance.
- Multiple paths implementing evidence based and
- new progressive techniques tailored to your needs.
- Easy and accessible
- Choose your method of communication
- and counselors based on who you are most comfortable with.
- Available for 12 hours daily
- Inclusive membership, available to all
- Book online
- No county paperwork
- Central CA location
- Finally affordable assistance
- Skilled guidance specialists
- Treatment for all levels of addiction
- 1-on-1, group, teletherapy, Skype, text, phone,
- post-rehab maintenance, emergency hot-line?? → Harm Reduction, Sober Curious, Non Committal, SMART Recovery, Counseling, Coaching, Abstinence-Based, 12-step based, Evidence-Based and Refuge Recovery
3. Brand Personality 1 (Core Brand Essence Foundation)
Brand Archetypes:
- Citizen: Steward of happiness, altruistic, good listener & hard worker. Believes in responsibility to the community.
- Samaritan: Selfless, kindness and compassion in action.
- Detective: Bridges connections, uncovers what’s hidden. Seeks answers.
- Caregiver: Altruistic, compassionate, empathetic, patient. Unselfish concern and devotion to care for others.
- Healer: Empathy. Conduit toward wholeness. Catalyst to healing. Creates conditions, beliefs and structure for healing to happen.
- Guardian: Gift for championing, nurturing, and guidance. Offers loving oversight and compassionate discipline. Offers safety, respecting privacy, promoting accountability and liability in service to protecting others from harm.
- The Everyone: Strength, supportive, useful & resourceful. Believes everyone matters. Seeks to do the right thing. Sincere and WYSIWYG. Casual approach, understated, non-threatening, and helpful to all.
4. Brand Personality Key Words:
- Approachable
- Supportive
- Innovative
- Compassionate → Altruistic
- Empathetic → Respectful → Progressive → Fresh
- Modern
- Healthy
- Knowledgeable → Professional → Non-judgmental → Edgy
- Surprising
- Transparent → Casual
- Minimal
- Inviting
- Easy Going/Casual → Accessible
- Inclusive
- Disarming
- Patient
- Authentic/Real → Happy
- Communal
- Good Listener → Active Counselor → Non-Threatening → Flexible
- Encouraging → Serene
- Nods to Tradition
5. Competitive Positioning
- Modern: Progressive and fresh. Slight nod to traditional.
- Minimal: Simple and clean aesthetic. A simple easy experience.
- Happiness: A path to happiness that is a positive, fun and informative experience
- Casual: Approachable, witty and comfortable but no laughing matter
- Professional: Knowledgeable but not sophisticated, judgmental or snobby
- Affordable: Low cost, accessible
- Innovative: New approach based on tried and true techniques
- Flexible: Brand has room to grow in multiple directions
- Tailored: Personalized process, approach and treatments based on individual need and preference Healthy: Mentally, physically, socially, professionally
- Inclusive: All welcome regardless of age, income, race, beliefs, preferences, gender, etc.
- Communal: A community of support
6. Why Choose Sarah?
I want to become a member because...
- I question the role a substance plays in my life.
- My environment is problematic
- My health, relationships, work, confidence, pride or happiness has suffered due to addiction. → AA isn’t for me.
- The system has failed me.
- Other options made me uncomfortable or were not for me.
- I don’t know where to go or how to start dealing with my addiction.
- I can’t afford other options.
- I am not sure if I need help or not.
7. Competitive Advantage:
- Specialized & experienced team
- Most accessible
- Most affordable
- First of it’s kind
- One of a kind, new, progressive approach
- Developed from an outstanding community need → Culturally Relevant
- Socially Relevant
- Julian is helping me ;P
- Competitive Weaknesses:
- Do not accept insurance
- Coaching/counseling only
- No residential care
- No medical, Rx or Dr. care
- New to the market
- Licensed therapists coming soon-ish
8. The Brand Story
“Sarah’s Company” is the only community of addiction recovery specialists that serve Central California with a personalized, affordable, progressive and approachable experience that focuses on addressing substance addiction and reclaiming pride, happiness, and health.
The coaching and counseling and post-rehab/treatment maintenance services are easily accessible, as per individual preference, in one-on-one sessions, group support, Skype, phone and text.
Our members and guests primarily include millennial college students and professionals who have chosen to seek assistance regarding substance abuse. They identify as Sober-Curious; looking for moderation, Sober-Sober; looking for maintenance or struggling, or looking for critical, immediate help. Our members demand non-judgmental guidance, knowledgeable, compassionate, and empathetic professionals, and a fresh, alternative approach to addiction wellness.
In a time when physical and mental wellness is a growing priority, and the needed affordable support services are insufficient, we can provide education, support and counseling that satisfies the needs and desire to address the role of addictive substances in ones life.
9. Mission Statement
Our mission is to provide affordable member-based support services for those looking to enhance their mental wellness by exploring the role that alcohol and other substance use plays in their lives.
We believe that reducing or eliminating substance use is the next logical step in wellness, and a necessary step towards happiness, physical and mental healthiness and living a life to be proud of.
Cutera
Case Study Details
Established in 1998, Cutera, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets and sells high-end medical technologies including adjustable intensity lasers and intense pulsed light for non-invasive cosmetic treatments.
In 2000, Cutera released their first official product and an industry first in many categories, the CoolGlide CV, the first premium Nd:YAG laser for permanent hair reduction. With the success of their legacy product, Cutera looked to Julian and Zoe Design Associates ("ZDA") in 2002 to help them reach their ambitions of becoming innovative leaders of medical aesthetics. Through ethnographic research and collaboration with engineering specialists, physicians and patients, Cutera's products and brand experience evolved over the course of the next 15 years, revolutionizing medical aesthetics globally.
Titles & Core Duties
- Creative Director, Sr. Industrial Designer, Designer
- Brand Development
- Consumer Research & Analysis
- End User Research & Analysis
- User Environment Research & Analysis
- Collateral Design, Development & Photography
- Product Design & Development
- Package Design & Development
- Identity Design & Development
- Teams Management & Company Liaison
- Trend Analysis, Approach & Foresight
- Sourcing & Manufacturing Guidance
Key Challenges
- Develop new signature visual brand language and apply design language across all consumer products and key brand touch-points
- Design products and brand collateral to stand out in a highly competitive market
- Improve usability, UX, UI, human factors and better understand patient experience
- Determine practitioners needs, desires and working environments to drive design
- Configure complicated high-tech internals into a compact and ergonomically sound package for easy and cost-effective maintenance
- Create stylish and aesthetically appropriate mobile and compact equipment
- Engineer products to be lightweight and ergonomically sound with excellent visibility of the treatment areas
- Develop within strict legal, safety and cost requirements
- Design extremely high-tech and intimidating technologies to be environment appropriate and appear non-threatening
- Build products that help people feel socially accepted, increase self-confidence and improve self-image
Solutions & Results
Cutera’s initial focus with ZDA was making their sophisticated engineering look “cool”. Instead, we refocused Cutera’s strategy to a brand-centric long-term plan. Our first initiative defined the Cutera brand experience – its strengths and weaknesses in order to drive the signature visual brand language to be applied across all their products and key brand touch points. With our user/consumer-first approach, we established a 15-year ongoing relationship with Cutera and made Cutera the global industry leader by revolutionizing the experience for both consumers and practitioners.
Brand Experience
- Through on-site ethnographic research, we discovered that Cutera's users and their patients desire friendly, approachable, spa-like treatment environments rather than the typical clinical ones. Patients and practitioners alike wanted high-tech, professional, non-threatening tools and medical devices.
- The enduring, signature designs of the brand collateral/products were created to aesthetically and technologically differentiate from the competition in both medical offices and trade-show floors, as well as fitting comfortably in both clinical environments and treatment spas.
- The superior quality persona of the brand was communicated through meticulously selected materials and surface treatments and a well thought out user experience from easy access maintenance and adjustable ergonomic settings to minimal post-treatment clean-up.
- Unidirectional wrap-around curves on the larger units provide a signature light and floating feel and communicates mobility and reduces perceived size. Both were key factors in making purchase decisions.
- To reduce cleaning and unsanitary conditions and for ecological and cost reasons, most Cutera devices avoid consumables or disposables.
- All generations of products have successfully adopted the visual brand signatures and are still available today.
Product Design
Physical & Perceived Size: We carefully considered the perceived and physical size of the devices due to the extremely small treatment environments and the large size of the technologies. Through the strategic use of signature layers, edge styling, surface treatments and color breaks, we minimized the physical and visual impact of the products and the extraordinarily challenging component configurations.
User Experience
- User experience was carefully addressed for the practitioners, their patients and the Cutera staff throughout the product's use cycle.
- It was imperative to design the products with a high focus on ergonomics due to serious treatment fatigue. To resolve these issues, the hand pieces have integrated motion conforming supports, specialized grip designs and an intuitive lightweight design that offered the best-in-industry visibility of the target area. The product consoles also boast motion conforming supports as well as industry leading sound and vibration dampening and strategic core heat management and venting for patient comfort and technical efficiency.
- Integrated console storage solutions kept all treatment components with the device, reducing the chance of forgetting or losing parts when mobilized.
- Many innovative safety features were developed such as liquid protection, compliance sensors, internal component weight balance, laser shields, emergency paging and shut-off switches.
- To address sales demos and movement between treatment rooms, there were numerous mobility developments from structural supports, secure accessory mounts, strategically located handles for loading heavy consoles into vehicles and special wheels and clearances to ease the wheeling of sensitive units over speed bumps, elevator thresholds and rough surfaces.
- Due to the complex nature and scope of the technologies, Cutera products required on-sight serviceability that was cost-sensitive, discrete and easily accessible. We designed modular systems that allowed for all major sub-assemblies to be pretested and readily replaced for manufacturing or service. We added sophisticated, hidden latches and hinges to discrete panels that are easily removed for service.
- Modular designs allow for all major sub-assemblies to be pretested and easily replaced for manufacturing or service.
- The units were designed with distribution in mind to fit standard rate shipping containers as well as sales and maintenance vehicles.
- Numerous patents have been awarded.
The Brand
- WHAT: Cosmetic Medical Technologies
- WHO: People who desire non-invasive, physical aesthetic improvement
- WHY: To provide elite technology that helps people feel better about themselves and to feel safe while receiving treatment
Messages
- Face + body aesthetic solutions
- Innovation designed around you
- Industry-first solutions
- Made for today designed for tomorrow
- An investment
Strengths
- Safety
- Clinical excellence
- Physician/patient education
- Customer training
- World wide service (40 Countries)
- Upgradeable platforms
Attributes
- Approachable
- Spa-appropriate
- Cutting edge
- Industry leading quality
- Progressive/modern
- Made in USA
- Precise
- Versatile
- Ergonomic
- Enduring
- User-friendly
- Safe
- Global service
- Professional
Accolades
- Featured on Extra (ABC TV), 2008
- Featured on The Doctors (CBS TV), 2009
- IDEA: International Design Excellence Award, 2011
- EID: Appliance Design, Excellence in Design Award, Gold, 2011
- SPARK: SparkPro Design Award, 2011
- MDEA: Medical Design Excellence Award, 2011
- IF: International Product Design Award, 2012
- Featured on The Wendy Williams Show (FOX TV), 2013
- “This design hides the guts quite nicely and it definitely is a look hospitals and clinics are going to appreciate. Nice!” - Prospective buyer at ADD trade show
Helen's Kitchen
Case Study Details
Helen's Kitchen is a healthy, vegetarian, frozen foods brand that became part of the Artisan Bistro Foods, Inc. family in 2009. Helen's Kitchen manufactures prepared foods for the retail, food service and direct-to-consumer markets.
In 2003, Julian and his team created Helen's Kitchen, a brand built around a healthy food lifestyle the team was passionate about. Helen's Foods, Inc. thrived for six years before integrating with Artisan Bistro Foods, Inc. By 2009, Helen's Kitchen needed to realign with an evolving market and consumer preferences, which necessitated a line expansion, collateral alignment and a brand refresh in order to stay competitive. "HK" turned to Julian to lead this effort.
Titles & Core Duties
- CCO (Chief Creative Officer)
- CBO (Chief Brand Officer)
Brand Evolution & Messaging Lead
- Identification and Resolution of Brand Weaknesses
- Collateral Design, Development, Illustration & Photography
- 3rd Party Management (Contractors, Partners, Production)
- Product Development
- Packaging Strategy, Design & Production
- Identity Strategy, Design & Production
- Consumer Tribe Identification, Analysis & Communication
- Marketing & PR Development
- Interdepartmental Coordination & Management
- Trend Analysis, Approach & Foresight
Key Challenges
- Overcome vegetarian and tofu product stigmas.
- Develop business from the ground up in an extraordinarily competitive market.
- Design, produce, package, market & sell a healthy food brand, its identity and products.
- Intrigue and connect with an untested, emerging mainstream market.
- Define the brand's Who, What and Why.
- Determine the brand personality, social cachet, emotional and functional benefits.
- Evolve the brand and its collateral to address emerging competitive challenges, tell a re-focused story, feel fresh and address an intensifying competitive market.
- Identify and connect with HK's consumer tribes and brand fans.
- Discover new opportunities to build upon existing product lines.
- Design new strategies to identify and take advantage of developing trends.
- Make innovation and evolution strategies a permanent part of internal processes.
- Improve cross-silo collaboration and streamline production processes.
The Brand
- WHAT: Healthy frozen meals
- WHO: Vegetarian "Chief Wellness Officers"
- WHY: Vegetarian & vegan frozen food can be healthy, sustainable, sophisticated, easy & delicious
Messages
- Simple health
- Healthy twist on culinary classics
- Global, regionally inspired cuisine
- Family business and recipes
- Helen is a real person and these are her values
- Food for health
- Eat to live AND live to eat
- No hidden ingredients
- Honest natural foods
- Recognizable ingredients
- Family business
- Casual dining
- Affordable sophistication
- Foodie culture
- Gluten-free
- Vegetarian and vegan
Personality
- Proud health nut
- Appropriately sophisticated
- Trust-worthy and reliable
- Modern
- Proud vegetarian
Attributes
- Healthy and balanced
- Sustainable and responsible
- Accessible
- Easy
- Enticing
- Modern, international fusion
- Delicious
- Made in USA
- Healthy twist on the familiar
- Organic and gluten-free options
- Inspired by regional heritage and authenticity
- Honest and straight forward
Trends Addressed
- Sustainable
- Local
- Simple
- Farm-to-table
- "Real" ingredients
- Whole foods
- Minimally processed
- Quicker "slow food"
- Honest natural foods
- Recognizable ingredients
- Family business
- Casual dining
- Affordable sophistication
- Foodie culture
- Gluten-free
- Vegetarian & vegan
Accolades
- Featured in popular media including:
- (TV) ABC’s Good Morning America
- (TV) Fox Business
- (TV) NBC’s Today Show
- (TV) Bravo TV's TV OK
- Business Week
- BuzzFeed News
- Cosmopolitan Magazine
- Fitness Magazine
- Prevention Magazine
- Self Magazine
- Wall Street Journal
- Women’s Health Magazine
- 100+ Blogs
- Health Magazine
- People Magazine
