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Jeremy Zobrist\u2019s decades of experience in the food industry have taught him a few lessons. One has been particularly helpful in his role as founder and CEO of Top Fox Snacks<\/a>: When warranted, ask for help from experts.<\/p>\n Founded in 2019, Top Fox was struggling with sales and looking for something to help boost velocity. \u201cWe had been gaining distribution in stores, but were having a hard time getting consumers to put the pouch in their basket,\u201d said Zobrist. \u201cWe had no real marketing team, but we felt confident that it was a good product. So I talked to a consultant, who helped us realize that we needed to invest in the packaging.\u201d<\/p>\n Since he lacked branding experience, Zobrist then reached out to Interact Brands to help transform the design. Almost immediately, Fred Hart (formerly of Interact Brands and now an independent brand consultant) and his team at Interact saw an opportunity: Transform Top Fox\u2014which was being sold in the produce section of grocery stores\u2014into a true snacking brand.<\/p>\n Top Fox had an issue: the product was delicious, but it became clear that consumers weren\u2019t quite sure how to eat it. It seemed like something you would add to salads, rather than eat on its own. \u201cThe idea of snacking on pumpkin seeds does not come naturally to most people,\u201d said Hart, referring to Top Fox\u2019s flagship product when the redesign was undertaken. \u201cSo we had to cue the shift in consumer behavior that we wanted to see.\u201d<\/p>\n In developing the brief, the Interact team looked for inspiration from other brands that had changed consumers\u2019 mindsets in this way. \u201cThink about Bark Thins. They really reframed chocolate as a snacking occasion, and we wanted to do the same with Top Fox,\u201d said Hart. It would be a heavier lift\u2014pumpkin seeds don\u2019t have the same cachet as chocolate\u2014but the brand did have better-for-you credentials on its side.<\/p>\n Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds (the latter were being added to Top Fox\u2019s portfolio, along with a combination of the two, called Duos) are nutrient-dense, with plenty of healthy fats and essential minerals. They even have a decent amount of protein, though Hart recognized the balance that needed to be struck. \u201cThis is not a protein snack. It\u2019s nice to have, but it\u2019s not core to the proposition. Still, in today\u2019s protein-focused environment, there\u2019s value in accentuating it.\u201d<\/p>\n Healthy or not, it was flavor that would drive consumers to buy Top Fox. The Interact team needed to better highlight how delicious the brand\u2019s myriad flavors (ranging from Chile Lime to Himalayan Salt) really were. \u201cIn our initial conversations with Interact, it became clear that we needed to reposition this not as a healthy product, but as a snack product<\/a> that happened to be healthy,\u201d Zobrist commented.<\/p>\n The Interact team got to work on concepts. Hart was quick to point out what a complete team effort it was, with Andrew Sondheim (design director at Interact Brands) taking on a central role. \u201cI was helping with the overall creative strategy, but Andrew was doing a lot of the work creatively. He developed the intention and thoughtfulness behind the work,\u201d Hart noted. \u201cThis was truly a team effort at Interact Brands.\u201d<\/p>\n First up was showcasing the product itself. The prior packaging featured a cascade of pumpkin seeds falling from the top (\u201cmore quantity than quality,\u201d Hart noted), and Interact decided to make a few seeds the hero, enlarging and centering them on the package. \u201cYou can show off the dusting of flavors on the seeds that way, so they don\u2019t look as plain,\u201d Hart said. Interact had success with a similar approach for previous Designalytics Effectiveness Award winner, Boulder Canyon, opting for images of a few large, textured chips rather than a whole bowl. \u201cIt really drives appetite appeal when you show it up close,\u201d Hart added. \u201cIt creates greater contrast and feels like something you’d actually want to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n The brand couldn\u2019t be subtle with its snacking suggestion, so the largest word on the pack is now \u201csnacking\u201d for both the pumpkin and sunflower seed SKUs (slightly smaller, but still prominent, on the Duos varieties). \u201cWhen you\u2019re trying to prompt a new behavior, it helps to be a little more explicit,\u201d noted Hart. In addition, a tagline\u2014\u201dSnack wisely\u201d\u2014 is unmissable on top of the design and helps solidify the product\u2019s snacking credentials.<\/p>\n Other claims and descriptors were placed strategically around the package, including an allergen-free claim (indicating it\u2019s good for kids), a \u201cUSA Grown\u201d badge, and the important protein callout. \u201cPop roasted\u201d remained in the new design, but with a helpful \u201ccrispy and crunchy\u201d claim to help better communicate the texture. \u201cThe product does eat differently than more dense seed products, and \u2018pop roasted\u2019 insinuates a certain cooking process and texture. \u2018Crispy and crunchy\u2019 just describes what the actual experience of eating pop-roasted seeds is like.\u201d<\/p>\n When it came to color, it was important to evolve rather than replace. \u201cTop Fox didn\u2019t need an all-new brand,\u201d said Hart. \u201cSo we used the color block from the original packaging but added a healthy amount of flavor color to counterbalance it.\u201d Each product variety had its own color\u2014Duos packages are white, sunflower seeds are tan, pumpkin seeds remain in their original black\u2014and the flavors within each of these variants have eye-catching colors of their own to help with line navigation (e.g., pink for Himalayan Salt, bright green for Chile Lime, etc.).<\/p>\n While the agency was at it, they subtly upgraded the brand mark as well. They added a white tuft to the fox\u2019s tail, and changed the previous handwriting font to more commanding, insistent block lettering. Interact felt the logo should be as confident as the rest of the pack. \u201cThese are bold snacks. They\u2019re flavorful. So we brought the typography along for the ride,\u201d Hart said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The results speak for themselves. In Designalytics\u2019 testing of the two designs, consumers preferred the new look by a considerable margin, 69% to 31%. Not surprisingly, sales soared\u2014in the six months following the launch of the new design, Top Fox\u2019s sales increased by 54% compared to the same period during the prior year.<\/p>\n Suddenly, those pouches were flying off the shelves, and Zobrist believes that his decision to redesign was the catalyst. \u201cThis was more than a packaging investment, it was an advertising investment as well,\u201d he said. \u201cIt helps to have a good product, but if you don’t have great packaging, you\u2019re not going to get a chance with consumers. So what I learned was this: Packaging sells.\u201d<\/p>\n This article was provided by Designalytics. For more information, please visit https:\/\/www.designalytics.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n