The Susan B Group designed the graphic elements of Eat Well Be Well Foods with a decidedly magazine influence, hoping to both entice and educate consumers.

Eat Well Be Well Foods Launch With Strategic Branding by Susan B Group

By Eric Van Osten

New diets and health foods are constantly being developed and marketed to us. But healthy food doesn't taste good, right? Wouldn't most of us agree that we prefer the taste of a regular soda over its diet counterpart; a cheeseburger over a veggie burger; meat over tofu? Eat Well Be Well Foods (EWBW) of Hood River, OR, created a line of sugar-free, diabetic-friendly foods that contain no sugar or sugar alcohols—and still taste good.

To truly connect with its target audience, though, EWBW needed to find a voice, create a look, and position itself on the market against its competition. EWBW hired the Susan B Group, a branding, marketing communication, and design company in Fairfax, CA, to take on the task.

"It is an entirely new brand. We needed to determine the personality for the brand itself and create its logo, positioning it within the competitive marketplace," says Susan Bierzychudek, principal of Susan B Group. Since this client lacked the project budget for traditional consumer research, the Group conducted an armchair analysis of the targeted consumer audience, asking questions like: What is the typical lifestyle of this consumer? What are her attitudes? What are her expectations and experiences with diet management, both positive and negative? What are the dietary challenges that diabetic people face? How can we speak with one voice to both our primary and secondary audiences—diabetics and people who simply want to maintain a healthier diet?

"We took a look at the marketing influences this consumer would encounter on a daily basis," Bierzychudek says. "With all of this information at hand, we determined our visual approach." That approach would rely on vitally important appetite appeal information with upscale, editorial-style photography—the kind found in consumer magazines such as Cooking Light. The approach also developed a voice for the brand that the consumer could really relate to emotionally.

"We had to connect with the consumer on an emotional level to influence a decision to buy," Bierzychudek says. "Though we don't often think of it that way, purchasing decisions, especially about food, are emotional. You can't resist buying something that looks positively delicious." Of course, the product has to deliver, but the Eat Well Be Well packages firmly announce that the cereal is really going to taste good, it's good for you, and here are the reasons why.

The "reasons why" are highlighted by simple icon bullets on the front of the package and closely resemble article call-outs on a magazine cover. They highlight features of the product such as its being sugar-free, sugar alcohol-free, and diabetic friendly. Flip the package around and read more about each of these properties. "It looks a little bit like a consumer magazine such as Real Simple or Martha Stewart Living," Bierzychudek says. "The type of graphics and the color palette were magazine-influenced to speak to consumers in the world they're comfortable living in, while teaching them things like the importance of avoiding sugar alcohols without making the products seem clinical."

One may ask: "What is a sugar alcohol and why should I care?" This is exactly what they were hoping you would do. Take the box off the shelf and read the back to discover that sugar alcohol is a chemical that is used to imitate the chemistry of sugar in sugar-free products. Some common examples of these are maltitol, lactitol, and glycerin. The products that contain these really are sugar-free, but these sugar alcohols cause digestive stress for many people and can also cause dangerous spikes in blood sugar for diabetics. "This is an area in which consumers need a lot of education, but getting that information in front of people without making it feel like a lecture was the challenge," Bierzychudek says. "We positioned it as something that is really good for you and really delicious—and we can teach you some important things about your family's health."

EWBW produces various kinds of cereal, oatmeal, chocolate bars, and cereal bars with a suggested retail price between $3.49 and $5.99 per package, newly introduced to 12 major retail chains. Susan B Group specializes in consumer products and service industries and comprises a small virtual group, each member having 15-25 years experience in the industry. Clients coming to Susan B Group have the opportunity to work with a team, all of whom have been senior design directors at prestigious agencies, in a virtual environment that reduces overhead.