Description:

THINKING
After thirteen years, Kiwi icon Shaky Isles wanted to refresh their brand. As well as a new look and feel, the purpose was to help them transition from a café to a more premium FMCG supermarket leader, with a view to taking their business offshore.

Shaky Isles coffee is a blend known for its complexity and strength – just like Kiwis. So we decided to explore what it means to be a Kiwi in the modern age, while retaining the brand’s edge and quirkiness. To achieve this with our packaging, we gave each varietal a personality for Kiwi consumers to connect with.

CONCEPT
Shaky Isles coffee is known for its complexity, strength and uniquely different roasting techniques. Like Shaky Isles coffee, Kiwis are proud of their individuality, and doing things in their own different and often inventive ways. Complex, definitely. A little odd, maybe. But we don’t take no for an answer, we don’t follow the herd, and we always punch above our weight.

Introducing 'Brewed Different'. A celebration of all the things that make kiwis truly different, that could be used to parallel Shaky’s brewing techniques.

EXECUTION
It was essential we were able to represent a range of products/varietals in a way that brought Brewed Different to life.

The aim was to give each varietal a distinct personality, full of the same contradictions and quirky oddities we find in our own personalities, so that kiwi’s could have a laugh and connect with the brand. This same approach was intended to drive cut through at point of purchase in a cluttered FMCG environment.

We started by generating a bespoke name for each product that represented the character off the varietal and then brought the personality off each varietal to life through a unique colour pallet and clever copy – evocative, quirky statements laid out in a disjointed yet considered manner, that hinted at the makeup, temperament and identity of the varietal's profile.

Within each varietal we provided different captions to give consumers a choice of which they identified with most.

Our wholesale range did a 180 – going full colour. And we even put a series of captions in front of a hospitality research group to ensure we landed a tone that would resonate with hospo staff and owners alike.

The result was packaging that managed to be quintessentially kiwi, funny, quirky and irreverent, and yet still maintain the premium brand cues necessary for a product with its price point.