The team at Ultima Food thinks the new branding and packaging for its Iogo portfolio will help it stand out on store shelves, but it’s putting a little extra effort into turning some heads today.
At the Longo’s in Toronto’s Maple Leaf Square, the yogurt brand is formally debuting its new look with a fashion show featuring stylish kids and adults walking the aisles with carts and baskets full of newly redesigned Iogo products. The event brings a similar activation Iogo ran at an IGA location in Montreal in late November to Toronto.
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“It’s a cheeky nod to the importance of winning inside of the store,” says Simon Small, VP of marketing at Ultima Foods. “We changed our packaging, and that’s arguably our ‘clothes’ to the world, so we wanted to bring it to life in an unexpected manner. We’re a category that’s very much on-trend with Canadians right now and a brand that’s trying to fit into peoples’ busy lives, and nowhere are they busier and more distracted than when they’re in the store.”
The fashion show also brings an on-the-ground element to a broader creative platform it launched with Quebec agency Alfred on creative and Folk on strategy last month to reposition the Iogo brand. Since its launch four years ago, Iogo has always focused on brand aspects like having natural and Canadian-sourced ingredients, as opposed to the features and benefits of the product.
“We never had a spoon-and-a-smile kind of spot,” Small says. “It was always about being light and lively, but now that we’re established, people get who we are. They know we use natural ingredients, they know that we’re Canadian, and they get that we’re modern and innovative. Now was a good time to focus more on how the brand could part of their lives.”
The new creative in the “Daily Dose” platform takes the two dots that make up the umlaut in the Iogo logo and turns them into a pair of characters in everyday situations, from waiting for the bus to getting a haircut. Multiple spots have been rolled out already, and take the same approach regardless of the specific product being featured.
“We personified the part of our brand that people recognized the most,” Small says. “It’s less about us and more about the busy Canadian lives we’re trying to fit into. The dots are being the spokesperson for the people that are buying and loving the brand today. We’re not talking about health or probiotic science or something that might be alienating. It’s grounded in busy lives, which is something Canadians can relate to.”
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The yogurt category is one of the most competitive in the CPG sector. That is not only because of the numerous brands in the space but because a focus on product innovation means each brand has a range of product formats, flavours and segments like probiotic and Greek-style yogurt.
Similar to the “Daily Dose” platform, the new Iogo packaging takes a masterbrand approach, as the logo is the most prominent thing on the packaging, regardless of SKU (the only exception is the kid-focused “Nano” line, which was a particularly strong and recognizable sub-brand for the company).
“Shopper confusion is massive right now, so we need to do something that helps us stand out on the shelf,” Small says. “The consumer also doesn’t always understand we have multiple segments. They might buy us in one segment but their awareness of the other segments isn’t as high, but if they see the Iogo brand they already know, it might draw them in.”
