Spectacle Strategy

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Fifth Season

Insights, Brand Strategy, Naming, Brand Identity, Packaging Design, Advertising

THE OPPORTUNITY

Fifth Season had built the world’s most advanced vertical farming technology, and in February 2020 the farm was ready to “turn on”. Two weeks later, COVID-19 hit. We needed to find an engaging and delicious way to bring the product to consumers without retail shelf presence or food service sales.

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THE CHALLENGE

The brand’s launch challenge was both simple and incredibly complex - the world has just been turned upside down. How do we make consumers care about lettuce? Fifth Season’s original volume roadmap reached quotas through a 50/50 split between grocery and foodservice, but in March of 2020 the global restaurant industry shut off overnight, and retailers halted all new products on shelf to focus on COVID demand planning. With investor funding tied to sales and distribution metrics, Fifth Season had to bypass traditional channels and build a DTC channel strategy fast.

THE BREAKTHROUGH IDEA

Our market and consumer research led to a core insight around “reinjecting joy and delight into fresh”. Fast food has succeeded on the tenants of speed, taste, and convenience, so we set out to create a product and brand that made healthy food convenient, fast, and delicious.

KEY INSIGHT

THE SOLUTION

We targeted knowledge-workers and busy parents with a healthy lunch solution in the form of fresh, delicious salad kits. We designed new packaging that focused on the “joy and delight” essence of the brand. Then we helped Fifth Season build out a DTC web presence and operational solution. We established new voice principles with tone pillars of “Bright”, “Playful”, “Unpretentious”, and “Clever”, creating a brand that plays with our food and looks at the bright side. The bold color palette and illustrative elements are now used across all brand assets and social presence.

THE RESULTS

The new strategy resulted in a growing DTC presence with 81% of customers repeat purchasing, and an average purchase of 3 salads per transaction. The largest retailer in Pittsburgh, Giant Eagle, now carries Fifth Season salads with an expanding footprint in 3 new cities. Grocery sales are outperforming the competition by 150% (even at a more premium price point).

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