The Evolution of a Brand

Every year, 95 percent of new products fail. Why? Because consumers didn’t find enough value in the products’ packaging to give it a second look, or worse, drop it in their cart.

Packaging is just as important as the product itself. It’s the consumer’s first point of contact with a product and has to do the job of explaining the advantages of what’s inside the box or bottle. Done well, a brilliantly written and designed package will make someone try a new brand or product they’ve never heard of. If it falls short of delivering the value of the product, well that poor product will be left behind.

In 2014, Trim Healthy Mama launched a new line of natural food and personal care products. As a young company, they knew they had great products but needed a little extra help with the branding and technical aspects required for creating an entire line of attractive and compliant packages. They knew great packaging designs would be vital for their growing startup and that it would have a direct impact on sales and the company’s overall growth. Over the course of three years, we provided the expertise needed to help bring over 1000 natural products to market.
Photo Credit: THM

About

The Trim Healthy Mama story started with two sisters who wrote a book about food freedom for women. It was a self-published book with no expectations, no advertising budget and no celebrity endorsements. It became a movement as word caught on and as friends shared their “on plan” success with others. Trim Healthy Mama became a New York Times best-seller, inspired a viral community, developed a product line and recently opened their first retail store.

The Challenge

When we joined the Trim Healthy Mama team, they already had six SKU’s on the market, and thanks to the success of their first book, a growing fan base of 200,000 followers. At that time, they were not just looking to extend their product line, they were looking to enhance the brand. When the company first started to bring their products to market, weight loss was the key driver. As their fan base grew, so did the mission and vision of the organization. A new direction was taken and a healthy lifestyle company was born. In addition to the Trim Healthy Mama food product line, we were asked to assist in a product line extension for a new natural skin care product line.

Strategy & Consulting

Branding & Design

Package Design

Product Branding

Product Line Management

Group of eight Trim Healthy Mama’s natural product package designs

The Solutions

Trim Healthy Mama’s natural product package designs

Phase 1
Packaging Design

When a successful company is interested in redesigning the product’s packaging, it’s important to make sure you don’t change everything at once. The changes need to be progressive to ensure the company’s core consumer base will still recognize the brand.

We had the specific challenge of expanding and enhancing the brand while still respecting and keeping true to the product identifiers that the current customers recognize. The original packaging focused on the weight loss aspect of the brand which would have felt out of place with the new products in development. Changing too many brand elements at the same time would have confused their customers and may have affected sales in a negative way. Because of this, new branding elements were slowly introduced to keep the strong connection with their original fan base, while still resonating with new consumers.

Step 1: Logo/Name Change

When Trim Healthy Mama originally launched, they focused on creating a weight loss brand for “mamas” in the southeast. After their book received national recognition from diverse audiences, Trim Healthy Mama transformed the brand from “mama” to “naturals”. While the parent company still is and will always be Trim Healthy Mama, a new subsidiary was born to appeal to a wider audience. They renamed the product line and the new product line extension, Trim Healthy Naturals. And, as with any new brand name comes the need for a new logo. The Trim Healthy Mama logo was elegantly transformed to hold the same identity as the original parent company while still being able to speak to a new audience.

Step 2: Transitioning from a Weight Loss Brand to a Health & Wellness Brand

Once the new logo was locked in, the entire package design was re-imagined to make the transition from a weight loss brand into a new, healthy lifestyle company with a wider appeal. The tape measure to insinuate a shrinking waistline was removed, yet the individual color scheme for each product in the complete line was enhanced to strengthen the original customers’ ability to still recognize their staple pantry items.

A grouping of Trim Healthy Mama’s natural product package designs

Step 3: The Final Transition

As the Trim Healthy Mama brand transformed, so did their ability to help individuals “transform” into healthy, whole individuals. The transformation of both the brand and the ability to change the customer’s life was illustrated with the new package designs. The transformative process that comes from changing one’s lifestyle was originally signified with the static butterfly logo. In this last packaging rendition, you will start to see the butterflies come to life. The brand’s message that one “transforms” into a healthy, new self was fully illustrated with the new butterfly which seems to dance along the side of each package. The new branding is fun, beautiful, meaningful and inspirational.

The Vendor Relationships

We were brought on in the early stages of the acquisition of a natural skin care company for a product line extension. The already loved skin care and personal care line, Kit Naturals, was originally created by Trim Healthy Mama’s close friends. When Trim Healthy Mama mentioned the products in their New York Times best-seller, their community went crazy for the all natural skin care products, which left Kit Naturals with issues of being able to meet the increased demand. Kit Naturals was then acquired by Trim Healthy Mama.

Sourcing Components:

A lot goes into making a product. Especially a natural one. Everything from sourcing recyclable, Bisphenol-A (BPA) free, phthalates free components to the label and final application process is taken into consideration. We worked closely with the Trim Healthy Mama team to source environmentally friendly components at a low cost to help keep the entire product line’s end retail costs down.

Contract Manufacturers:

When working in partnership with me, companies don’t just benefit from my years of experience. They benefit from my industry connections. We brought in a combination of trusted contract manufacturers, label printers and bottle decorators from across the country to help Trim Healthy Mama find the great and safe packaging solutions they were hoping for.

Cost Savings:

Efforts performed on Trim Healthy Mama’s product line extension resulted in savings of over $70,000 on the first run and over $140K of accumulated savings with two to three runs each year. View an excerpt from the product line management solutions.

Design comps for Trim Healthy Natural’s new natural skincare product package design

The Results

38 New Jobs & 1
Retail Location

119 New Products
Added in 3 Years

Total Savings of
$140K+ Per Year

A Word From the Client

Samuel Allison,
Chief Operations Officer
Trim Healthy Mama/Trim Healthy Naturals

Robert has been an incredible asset to the development of our business. We met them when we were just a fledgling company, and with his help, we have grown into a nationwide brand. Robert is an excellent and talented artist, a breath of fresh air to work with and exceptionally responsive to our needs. Robert’s skills in marketing and research have been a great help in the development of our products.