Building the Brand Behind a New Superfood Category
Overview
Sweet Marie was founded by Chef Scotty Campbell after a deeply personal experience inspired him to rethink nutrition and wellness. While caring for his mother during her cancer treatments, Chef Scotty recognized the need for a better nutritional option that was both highly functional and enjoyable to consume. That journey led to the development of Sweet Marie — a first-of-its-kind frozen meal replacement product powered by a proprietary chia butter-oil blend designed to deliver exceptional nutrition, taste, and convenience.
Built around the health benefits of chia seed oil and a patent-pending production process, Sweet Marie set out to redefine what consumers expect from meal replacement products while creating opportunities for broader use of chia oil as a nutritional ingredient throughout the food industry.
Challenge
Sweet Marie faced the unique challenge of bringing an entirely new product category to market while simultaneously establishing credibility for a proprietary ingredient technology. The company needed to educate consumers on the nutritional benefits of chia oil while differentiating itself in an increasingly crowded health food marketplace.
Additionally, Sweet Marie needed to communicate two distinct value propositions to two very different audiences:
- Food manufacturers and processors interested in incorporating chia oil into their own products as a functional ingredient.
- Health-conscious consumers seeking nutritious, convenient, and great-tasting meal replacement options.
Creating a cohesive brand that could successfully serve both B2B and consumer markets required a carefully planned strategy and visual identity.
Objective
Sweet Marie engaged OAK to create a brand platform capable of supporting long-term growth across both ingredient licensing and consumer packaged goods markets.
The objectives included:
- Establishing a premium, credible brand identity rooted in health, innovation, and wellness.
- Creating a visual system that could scale across multiple product categories and sales channels.
- Positioning Sweet Marie as an early leader in chia-based nutrition products.
- Developing packaging and marketing assets capable of standing out in both retail and institutional environments.
Strategy
OAK partnered with Sweet Marie to build the foundation for the company’s market entry and future expansion.
Our team developed a comprehensive brand strategy that centered around Sweet Marie’s origin story, nutritional innovation, and mission to improve lives through functional foods.
Deliverables included:
- Brand positioning and messaging strategy
- Logo design and brand identity development
- Graphic standards and brand guidelines
- Business card and collateral design
- Consumer packaging design for retail distribution
The visual identity balanced premium wellness cues with approachability and warmth, helping communicate both scientific credibility and the personal story that inspired the brand’s creation.
Packaging designs were developed to support future expansion into retail channels including natural grocery stores, specialty markets, hospitals, and healthcare providers.
Results
OAK delivered a complete brand platform that positioned Sweet Marie for launch and future growth opportunities across multiple markets.
The new identity provided the company with:
- A professional and scalable brand system suitable for consumer and ingredient markets.
- Packaging designed to compete in premium retail environments.
- Marketing assets capable of supporting investor presentations, licensing discussions, and product introductions.
- A compelling story that connected consumers and business partners to the mission behind the brand.
Today, Sweet Marie stands as an example of how purpose-driven innovation, supported by thoughtful branding and design, can transform a personal challenge into a business with the potential to impact the health and wellness industry on a much larger scale.
The Summer Sandia label also won an American Advertising Federation award in 2015, and was published in Print Magazine’s 2015 Design Annual.
