Shake It Up
How do you create a stand-out brand in a sleepy category? How do you get consumers to notice something new in a category they’ve dismissed as a commodity or one that lacks innovation? How do you harness a multi-dimensional brand character in a single expression?
You shake things up. Fair Oaks Farms is challenging and progressing all existing perceptions of the farming industry – good and bad. It has the ability to make products that meet numerous consumer needs, from workout recovery beverages and special dietary drinks to milk that fits the entire family’s needs. It is a dairy-based health and wellness company with practices rooted in the “fair code” – a philosophy that drives work towards holistic wellness for people, animals and the planet. Their progressive farming model utilizes a completely sustainable, closed-loop system, and their proprietary process allows them to create natural products with more of what people want from dairy, like protein, calcium and great taste, and less of what they don’t – less fat, no lactose, no hormones. With such a unique competitive advantage, Fair Oaks Farms truly has the proof to back up its story and shake up the market.
Stand Out
Fair Oaks Farms chose to collaborate with Kaleidoscope based on Kaleidoscope’s Iterative Design Thinking – solve, vet, learn, and solve again – and our openness to true collaboration with clients. The iterative approach that started with mapping the entire Fair Oaks Farms story, searching for ideas that captured the higher purpose of the brand, and exploring a wide range of emotionally and rationally driven marks resulted in a masterbrand identity that brought the complex brand character to life and makes a statement in the dairy and health and wellness industry. The Fair Oaks Farms brand identity mimics the character of the company’s founder – a veterinarian, turned farmer, turned scientist with a larger-than-life personality and a passion for the pursuit of something better. Strong, yet approachable, the brand is a badge for advocating the fair code. It is a symbol of standards for the 94 farming families that work everyday to produce natural, nutritious Fair Oaks Farms products.
Putting the Products to the Test
With amazing products to offer and little awareness, Fair Oaks Farms knew it needed to reach a target with a big need and the ability to spread the word about its products. Core Power is the first Fair Oaks Farms product to go to market. It is a sports recovery drink high in protein with little fat and sugar. Taste test after taste test, it ranks above the competition, and unlike other protein drinks made with nutrition from milk, the protein is never converted to a powder. The proprietary cold-filtering process used by Fair Oaks Farms allows the product to stay in solution eliminating the chalky taste that the powdered whey beverages have.
Prior to launching under the brand name Core Power, the product was test marketed as Athlete’s Honey Milk, which allowed the products to gain the attention of a number of professional athletes that have helped spread the word about the product. Launching in the national market as Core Power positions the product to appeal to a broader and expanding consumer audience versus serious athletes only. The name and identity evoke energy, power and the importance of restoring your core. Importance has also been put on the natural flavor cues, which help this product stand out as all natural in a sea of synthetic and overly processed competitors.
Gaining Momentum
The Core Power product will hit shelves in summer of 2012, and the Fair Oaks Farms team is already looking for different health and wellness needs that it can answer for consumers with its proprietary approach. Look for this brand to gain exponential growth in the years to come.
