I’ve never heard of Nufs. Never eaten them. I’m not sure I’ve ever even seen them in a grocery store—I’m sure if I had, I’d stop and say, “Whoa, those look good!” And by look good, I’d mean the packaging and brand.
The New Age of CPG Branding
More and more of my design feeds are getting filled with images, launches, logos, and brands of consumer product goods. Every day it seems as though there is another brand that’s launched, pivoted, or trying to take up better visual space on grocery store shelves. And it’s beautiful.
For too long, major brands have dominated the food industry—household names ring true in nearly every category: Ritz, Johnson, Post, Quaker Oats, Betty Crocker, and a dozen more. And these brands have been able to dominate the space for decades.
However, consumers have become increasingly intelligible regarding their foods, available flavors, and new ways of consuming—and that has created opportunities for innovation and brand-grab (think land grab, but for headspace).
For the past twenty years or so, the go-to strategy for a CPG brand was to put out their product and make it look like what consumers were used to buying. I’m not sure if they were hoping that customers would grab their product by mistake, or wanted to ease the “bait-and-switch” feeling at grocery store chains like Aldi (all off-brand foods packaged like their on-brand counterparts). Of course this doesn’t work. If a product isn’t differentiated, then it’s going to lose to the incumbent brand.
Now all of a sudden, it seems like new CPG brands have woken up and figured out that they have to stand out on shelves. Crackers can’t look like saltines or Ritz or clubhouse. They have to take up a new space with new flavors and new ingredients. And that has made way for beautiful new brands, like Nufs.
Nufs Rebrand: Small Adjustments, Big Improvements
Looking at the previous Nufs brand, it had some decent bones. They had good core colors, knew that they had an interesting flavor profile, and tried to put that forward. Unfortunately, they also had a logo that made them look like dog treats—yuck. Put that all together with some mildly quirky photography and you have a brand that will find success, but maybe not an explosion of brand loyalty.
The Nufs rebrand, done by the incredible Working Assembly, takes the existing strengths and leverages their know-how and strategy in the CPG space to create a bold, unique, and try-worthy brand.
A try-worthy brand is something that stands out on the shelf so much that any consumer passing by is going to pay attention to it, if not give the product a try.
In CPG, if you have a good looking product, you want to show it off. Then, you need something to bring people’s attention to your good looking product. Simple as that.
- First, the new Nufs wordmark is big, bold, and in your face compared to other cracker brands on the shelf. Pair that with simple and bold colors and you have your attention grabber.
- Second, the new typographic system that Working Assembly helped Nufs establish beautifully adapts to the different flavors, benefits, and personalities of the brand. It’s even emphasized by adorable little crackers, perfect for personifying the brand and making them more relatable on social media.
- Third, the crackers look good. I mean they look thick and rich with flavor. Who needs a crummy topping for crackers that already taste as good as these look? Not me.
CPG Brands Win on the Shelves
It’s no secret that CPG brands make most of their money on the shelves. Shelves where product discovery happens. Shelves are where people can see, feel, and smell products. Shelves are the battle ground on which product wars are won and lost. Seriously, no one’s ever gone to the Ritz website to buy crackers—they’re too available everywhere else, and a need-it-now product.
Rebrands like Nufs are what CPG brands need to shift the tides in their favor. Big incumbent brands can’t take the risk of new packaging or a starkly different look—Tropicana tried that once and took a 20% hit (ie. $30 million). By making bold moves, owning their brand personality, and (probably) creating a delicious product, Nufs is poised to win.
All Nufs has to do now is live into their messaging platform “Have fun with food” by putting everything and anything on their crackers and giving it a taste test—something between Hot Ones and One Bite. (Short-form video content strategy, you’re welcome).
Want to have your brand stand out on shelves like this? Send us an email and let's chat about winning your shelf war.
