Beauty Born From the Sea
Cocoon’s passion for complex projects has materialized in the Beauty sub-brand of Optimeal petfood, which we co-created from scratch.
We were thrilled when one of our favorite clients, Ukrainian pet food company Kormotech, approached us with the idea of launching a super-premium pet food range and recruiting our help to give birth to this innovation. The task was to create an appealing identity and design of a new sub-range under the Optimeal brand which would clearly communicate a natural & healthy food product capable of enhancing your pet's beauty. There were several challenges we had to face. We needed to solve the appropriate brand architecture – specifically, how the new Beauty line should fit into the current Optimeal portfolio. We also had to decide how to name the line and its individual products, how to make the brand recognizable as a super-premium, healthy and natural pet food, and, last but not least, how to avoid being obvious when communicating beauty and exclusiveness.
We proceeded step by step. In workshops, involving the client of course, we focused on clarifying the concept of a beauty-focused pet food. The outputs and additional discussions helped us narrow down the meanings and brand values that form the new line so that we could start working on creative concepts that would have the most relevance and appeal for a very specific target audience of pet owners who have high expectations of the overall appearance and performance of their companions.
Multiple creative directions were explored. The elegant, stylish, and almost cosmetic ones along with the purely functional and health-focused were rejected in favor of communicating the food’s marine origin and naturalness. Finally, we worked out a theme around marine life that builds on the belief that true beauty reflects the perfection of nature and that clean environments produce the purest food. In this sense, oceans and seas represent pure, wild, and natural sources of "authentic" (the ideal for humans and animals) and healthy food. In other words, the best diet for beauty.
The Beauty range, despite being rather independent and positioned as super-premium, maintains a recognizable connection with the Optimeal mother brand. The signature "O" symbol serves as the subtle key element organizing the whole packaging layout and connects the range with its Optimeal mother brand.
For the visual identity, we promoted the purity, naturalness, and quality of marine nutrients found in shrimp, mussels, squid, salmon, and herring. The chosen aquarelle illustration style supports the overall feel of a harmonized natural beauty while specific elements including the Marine Protein Origin stamp, Immunity support symbol and the collection of iconography instill trust. The three lines showing fitness, harmony and podium, which reflect the different aspects of beauty, are differentiated by toned-down vibrant colors and by the representative pet poses. Print finishes like matte white and metallics on the main elements underline the premium quality and the "pearl"-like beauty of these products. The portfolio consists of dry and wet foods available in various packaging, so the design was rolled-out in all of its beauty on different formats and sizes.
No brand or identity can be perfected without the right insights. That's why we consulted our ideas and concepts with the most relevant authorities – our own pets. And they seem to be as keen on them as we are :)
