Design By Impression: Creating a Streamlined Better-for-You Story

Organic, Vegan, Supports Farmers, Omega 3’s, Clean Label, Unique Flavor. We all want this, but how do you communicate it? Is it even wise to shove it all into one product?

Today’s case study is Unilever’s Growing Roots, an *inhale* organic pineapple coconut and seed bite that has omega 3’s and is vegan and every product you buy, a small percentage of it goes to urban farms.

Sounds like a win, right? The perfect product for a huge company like Unilever to feel like their fellow youths.

Yet when you crowd too many things on a Principal Display Panel, some things will be more important, others will be less. With Growing Roots, the emphasis is on the “supports urban farmers”. To them, this matters the most in their product. Though that matters to them, does it matter to the customer? Perhaps, but perhaps not.

Though I believe supporting social programs are important, most people do eat these types of products for health and flavor. We’ve noticed this when it comes to sustainability initiatives. Most people eat plant-based food because it’s healthier.

We have this struggle in today’s design world that simple and bright and focused matters, yet we want these products that do everything, but what are the sacrifices that you have to take on that small piece of packaging real estate? With Growing Roots, a big focus on its packaging is bright colors and exciting flavors. Perhaps the only thing that matters in retail is for a customer to look at your product, and grab it.

Here are Carrie’s Notes:

Better-for-you products usually have a lot to ‘say’ about themselves – when you’ve developed something that checks every box (organic, vegan, no added sugar, no preservatives, etc…), it’s tempting to want the world to know all at once, right away. Unilever’s new Growing Roots snacks leave several key claims off their pack front (vegan, contains omega 3s) in order to tell a more focused story. Do you think the trade-off was worth it?