Plant-based pioneer, BOL Foods, recently unveiled a new creative direction for the brand. Its previous slogan “Eat plants, love life” will be replaced with a new lifestyle-centric positioning – “Bring On Life”. The energy-packed creative will see BOL shift its focus away from its recipes and instead, encapsulate the wealth of lifestyle benefits that come from eating their range of convenient, nutritionally balanced plant-based meals and Power Shakes.
BOL Foods launched in 2015 and has since established itself as the go-to food brand for busy foodies. And, while the plant-based B Corp has always retained its position as a category leader, there is more competition in the world of plant-based than ever before. This, along with the growing consumer appetite for plant-based brands, has spurred them to consider how they can stay culturally connected with shoppers in an ever-saturated category.
Bring on Life is designed to disrupt the status quo, shifting its focus away from ingredients and recipes and instead, speaking directly to consumers about the benefits of positive nutrition and “eating to feel unstoppable”.
To learn more, we spoke to Jessica Vara, Head of Brand & Marketing at BOL.
What was the brief for the rebrand?
BOL Foods launched in 2015 and we have since established ourselves as the go-to food brand for busy foodies. And, while we have continued to retain our position as a category leader, there is more competition in the world of plant-based than ever before.
This, paired with the growing consumer appetite for plant-based brands, was what spurred us to consider how we can really stay culturally connected with shoppers, in an ever-saturated category. The Bring On Life brief really centred around this mission of elevating our brand from product focused to one hero-ing holistic benefits.
Through a high energy creative, we were set to shift our focus away from recipes and nutrition and onto the wealth of lifestyle benefits that come from our plant-powered portfolio.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
We place enormous value on consumer insights, and the perceptions of our category. For the campaign we really wanted to get under the skin of our consumer and understand how they felt about our recipes.
What we realized were how strong the associations with energy and motivation were, surrounding BOL – and we ran with this. Another thing crucial to capture was the distinction between living active, versus busy; promoting empowerment, rather than perpetuating hustle culture.
From day one, we had real clarity on our visual identity, having already begun step changing our look and feel from products and ingredients to aspirational lifestyle. With clearly defined rules to win, photography and creative came to life really organically.
Describe the purpose of the brand and its target audience
BOL Foods is a certified B corporation, and our brand mission is to help make it easier for busy people to eat well, and make every day, less everyday. We promise to be 100% plant powered; deliver delicious taste; care about the planet; and be a business for good. Our bullseye target audience is 25-34 year olds – living in urban areas, and flexitarians actively trying to reduce their consumption of animal products.
What was your thinking behind the rebranding solution?
From start to finish, this was a real example of when everything ‘just comes together’. BOL has for years been synonymous with active living, and offering the food that powers a life lived to the full. By revealing the acronym of Bring On Life, we were able to put this to paper with a beautiful, relatable simplicity that perfectly summarised the sentiment of what our brand, and our consumers represent.
Did you learn anything new during the project?
The BOL team really are the best advocates of the brand. We used an external agency in the upfront creative thinking to define the brand platform, but beyond that all the execution was produced in house, with our team becoming the faces of our OOH campaigns and paid media.
Over investing in events has also been an incredible strategic opportunity for people to meet the brand in person, and for us to engage, educate, and get products that we’re hugely proud of into thousands more hands. We’ve found everything from festivals to run clubs to be invaluable moments to get people their first taste of the BOL brand.
What was the biggest challenge? How did you overcome it?
In true BOL fashion, we were juggling multiple projects at once. At the same time as shooting our hero campaign video we were also finalizing our new Power Shake label redesign and launching four new SKUs, amongst several other moving parts. And due to a handful of delays propelled by the above, parts of the video were actually shot in Israel, as our videographer was travelling at the latter stages of filming..
What kit/tools/software were used to create it?
From our senior designer creating Westfield billboards from her desk at the Veg Pad, to our office manager choreographing and dancing in our campaign video: this was a real in house effort.
What details are you most proud of any why?
This was a campaign that really was all in the detail. Every creator was carefully selected to bring a new angle and tell a new story through credible content that resonated with their following. And we handpicked a longlist of influencers to receive the send out. Both of which came together to give some of our best results to date.
What visual influences fuelled your solution?
After founding the brand with foodie and ingredient leading visuals, we really wanted to rip up the rule book and use references from other categories. From leading sports brands like Nike to convenience driven rapid delivery like Gorilla’s.
A gritty, imperfect approach became the visual as a way to tell a collage of stories, and celebrate the breadth of modern life.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
Landing Bring On Life offers BOL a springboard to shift mindsets around our portfolio of products, onto the way every pot, jar, and bottle can make you feel. Our key objective is to become a brand synonymous with empowerment, active living and simply, food that makes you feel unstoppable.
What would you do differently if you could do it over again?
This campaign has only scratched the surface of our new chapter. There have been so many elements to the launch that we’re so excited to dial up – from guerilla marketing, surprise and delights and events. BOL is also really finding it’s space across socials which has driven some amazing results off the back of the Bring On Life positioning.
It’s full steam ahead here, and we’re committed to really investing in the potential of digital and social, with some incredibly talented influencers and brand advocates at our side. Watch this space.
Credit list for the work?
BOL Foods
Asan Dia Videographer
Build Media
Visible PR
