Impossible Foods has adopted a brand refresh and striking red packaging to put its products, meat alternatives, front and center. The company relaunched its brand identity and highlighted its flavor and nutrition.
A spokesperson for Impossible Foods said the brand wants to appeal to meat-eaters and flexitarians, who make up about 90 percent of the company’s customer base. Peter McGuinness, CEO of Impossible Foods, at an Adweek X conference, said the way to get meat-eaters to buy the product is not to piss them off, vilify them, insult them and judge them. “We need to go from insulting to inviting, which is a hell of a journey.
“And inviting is exactly the theme of its new packaging, which features more appetizing-looking imagery, such as sausages with clearer grill marks, and a single meatball showing off more of the product and less of the sauce. Through all this, Impossible Foods wants to push the message ‘meat from plants is just as satisfying’.”
McGuinness explained that Impossible Foods wants to be inclusive to anyone who enjoys great food. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a vegan, a vegetarian, an animal meat-lover, or somewhere in between. What we want to do is educate consumers that they can still enjoy meat by incorporating into their direct diet a version that’s made from plants instead of animals.”
Impossible Foods worked on its new brand identity with its in-house marketing and creative teams, and global creative agency Jones Knowles Ritchie. Leslie Sims, the brand’s chief marketing and creative officer, said besides growing a brand, they are growing an entire category. “For a long time, meat eaters didn’t see us as something for them. But our mission relies on attracting meat eaters, so we wanted to do what we could to be more inviting in our approach and messaging. We’re confident that once they try us, they’ll be in.”
Impossible Foods chose the bold color red for its packaging because it mirrors the meatiness of its products. It highlighted ProVeg International study that found 54 percent of Americans and 56 percent of Brits associated red packaging with plant-based meat with superior taste. The study also stated that while packaging influences 65 percent of consumers’ willingness to buy meat alternatives, red was among the colors that didn’t excite them as much when thinking positively about the products.
McGuiness said Impossible Foods wanted packaging that lived up to and reflected the deliciousness of their products. He added the intent of new packaging and overall design of their new brand identity is to lean into the craveability of meat.
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