Brand Innovation
Innovation is the lifeblood of a business. To put it bluntly, if you don’t innovate, it dies.
We’re here to keep your brand alive, innovation comes in many forms: from a new product line to a new convenience or delivery aspect to a technological differentiation – all with the goal to provide a customer-centric solution, enhance the overall brand experience, foster customer loyalty and drive business growth by adapting to evolving market trends and consumer preferences.
Our commitment to curiosity, intelligence and intuition drives our pioneering spirit in product innovation and cutting-edge brand and packaging design. By exploring consumer and market research, we unearth unique possibilities for brands. We help conceptualize how brands can make bold statements in new territories and evolve to position themselves for successful market expansion.
With the foundational experience of our leader, Fred Gammon, the combined knowledge of our diverse team and the impressive powerhouse companies we’ve worked for (including Unilever, SC Johnson, Nestle, Hershey, General Mills and more), we have what it takes to help bring your innovative ideas to creative, consumer-facing life.
GRO helped us create a fun, memorable name and package design for our fruit & nut ball innovation. GRO is adept at building different brand strategies and visual languages for several brands in a portfolio.
Yigit Isiker
President, Safe Food Corporation
Supporting Innovation at Every Stage of Your Journey
1
You Have a Unique Product
Someone in your company has come up with a new idea for a way to differentiate your product. But who is your target, and how do you get your product to draw them in? This is where we come in. GRO can assist you in developing meaningful target personas and messaging that highlight the benefits and unique appeal of the new product offering.
2
Expand Into New Categories
You have a strong brand and market position, and it’s time to start exploring where there is room for your brand in other categories. Our role here is two-fold: take your brand equity and conduct branding exercises to see if the brand can expand; then, evaluate these moves with the appropriate target market through qualitative consumer testing.
3
Grow in Chosen Category
Is there any white space in your chosen category? In a world where it seems there’s nothing new under the sun, we simply know this isn’t true. We just need to find a missing attribute. It’s there, and we’ll help you find it. Or if you’ve already found it, we’ll help you make your innovation stand out through a comprehensive category audit, developing brand benefits and positioning.
4
Tempt With New Flavors or Trends
This is the everyday stuff. People are easily bored with categories sustained over time. They need variety and new experiences, whether trending, permanent, seasonal or cyclical. Give them a new fragrance, flavor or added ingredients to spice up your products. Whether this is a normal exercise for your brand or this is a big innovation, we’re here to test and prove what will work for your audience.
What We Do
Ideation + Positioning
Ideation is a creative exploration that involves considering various themes, messaging approaches and visual styles. Once a compelling concept emerges, the focus shifts to Positioning. This step involves defining how the brand will be perceived in the market and differentiating it from competitors. We will carefully craft a unique value proposition, ensuring that your brand occupies a distinctive and memorable space in the minds of consumers.
Visualization + Brand Design
This is where your hard work of product innovation is put to the test, and it’s where we thrive. This involves crafting visually appealing graphics but also ensuring that the brand communicates the right tone and attributes with the intended audience. Through a strategic blend of messaging, key visuals and solid brand identity development, we’ll create a visual language that resonates.
Consumer Testing
These crucial processes involve gathering valuable insights by putting brand identities, prototypes, or product concepts in front of potential consumers. Through surveys, focus groups and observational studies, companies can assess consumer reactions, preferences and perceptions. This feedback loop allows us to refine our strategies, ensuring that the final product aligns with expectations and creates excitement with consumers.
Brand Innovation Case Studies
Dibs Ice Cream
The Challenge
When Nestle evaluated the potential for downsizing their BON BONs chocolate-enrobed ice cream indulgence, they were responding not only to declining sales but also to an emerging market trend in confectionery for miniature chocolate and candy bars.
The Solution
The GRO Agency was enlisted to develop packaging, sizing and branding concepts for consumer evaluation. It was quickly discovered that the product experience was very positive. The result? Deliciously fun and poppable, Dibs.
Outshine Innovations
The Challenge
The popular frozen fruit bar, Outshine, was trying to innovate, but their focus became too widespread and consumers became confused. Outshine tapped back into their long-time partnership with the GRO Agency, and we got to work on the proper solution to develop a better design system to improve the shopability of their brand and expand outside the freezer aisle.
The Solution
The GRO Agency gave structure to innovation through freshly organized brand messaging around the core brand identity and streamlined packaging and design. This sound design system created a solid foundation where Outshine was free to expand their product lines as they pleased and break into new categories without creating consumer confusion.
When we needed to expand our brand outside of our traditional aisle, we turned to GRO. The team at GRO brought expertise and creativity to the project, and were the quintessential partner throughout.
Sarah Holley Manager
Product Innovation Nestlé USA
Disney License Work
The Challenge
Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream had the unique pleasure of bringing a once Disney Park exclusive treat to the everyday grocery aisle. The expertise of The GRO Agency was enlisted to create a design system for their array of Mickey Mouse ice cream products. The challenge was to ensure the exclusivity of the product and the authenticity of the iconic mouse came through in the design.
The Solution
The GRO Agency created impactful, authentic, brand-recognizable packaging that highlighted the famous mouse and would thrill the devoted Disney enthusiast and appeal to the general ice cream lover. The result? In the year following the launch, Mickey Bars were the top performing Nestle ice cream snack.
The top performing Nestlé ice cream snack SKU the year after release
Nestlé Licensing Team