While coming up with its latest campaign for long-time client Vitamix, Toronto agency Mint set a very clear goal: add colour.
“Vitamix is all about eating fresh and whole, but often when you hear about healthy or whole eating or eating fresh, it tends to be beige and boring,” says Kim Tarlo, the agency’s ECD. “We thought, at a time when people are more excited to eat well than ever before, why do we have to be boring?”
That thinking is what birthed the “Life in Colour” campaign, which blends scenes of content creator Zehra Allibhai – founder of wellness, fitness and nutrition site The Fit Nest – working with her own family in vibrant, colourful settings inspired by whole foods with macro photography of the foods themselves.
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The goal is not only to differentiate Vitamix – a leader in the blender category – from its less-colourful competition, but also to show that eating well can be “just as fun and vibrant” as digging into some brightly-packaged candy or a colourful bottle of juice.
“We wanted to show people how whole foods can enrich not only their diets, but also their lives as well,” says Anna Cumyn, senior art director with Mint. “We were inspired by the colourful, whole foods themselves, and we brought that natural colour into everything.”
Looking at the campaign, it’s easy to make a comparison to KitchenAid, whose colourful stand mixers are as much a status symbol and kitchen decor item as as they are an appliance. They also sell at a similar price point as Vitamix’s blenders.
But as Tarlo explains, the aim of the campaign is more about lifting Vitamix “out of the world of appliances” by being a little bit less functional and show that the foods families prepare with it can be “almost like a love language.”
“We’re trying to establish it not just as a kitchen staple, but more as an enabler and companion that steps up how you interact with food and your family,” says Tarlo. “It allows you to provide in a different way and have more variety in how you serve up foods.”
Tapping into the theme of family – and incorporating “real moms” such as Allibhai into the campaign – was also important for Mint to reflect the campaign’s primary target. Families have that emotional connection to meal preparation that campaign is trying to embody, helped by a focus on nutrition that parents have when it comes to what they feed their children.
Mint worked with Toronto-based production partners Studio Feather, Oso Audio, Cooper Films, Married to Giants and photographer Kate Ince on the campaign, which is also running in the U.S. and Mexico. The campaign will appear in online video, display and social channels.
