ilixer + Orchard & Magnetic Content Studios
Home Grown (as told by Brandery PM Jess Mabis)
On May 10, 2019 I was scheduled to meet with Cincinnati local Cody Blatt about a powdered food company he had started. I had heard from multiple people about the University of Cincinnati Law School student who was selling this product to other insanely busy students in the hallways between class. His passion was infectious and I immediately knew he would be in the upcoming gBETA Cincy program (a free pre-accelerator run by The Brandery). We worked together for seven weeks and, in that time, ilixer moved production from Cody’s kitchen to Findlay Kitchen, was approved to sell retail, and launched their Shopify site. When ilixer graduated from gBETA, the natural question was “what’s next?”. For me, I had to jump straight into Brandery recruitment. I gave Cody some hefty goals to reach in order to be competitive for Brandery’s investment. On August 29th, I got to tell Cody that he was accepted into The Brandery’s Batch 10 program and he immediately went to UC to drop his classes. That was the single most rewarding moment I’d had working on gBETA.
But ilixer isn’t all warm and fuzzy feelings, though. They’re playing in one of the most competitive D2C markets out there. With platforms like Shopify and Squarespace launching in the early 2000s and gaining huge momentum in 2010, it’s easier than ever to sell directly to consumers. Not only is this more streamlined, but it allows brands to control the distribution, presentation and consumer data collected. And it’s working- VC’s are pouring money into brands (Impossible Foods has raised $1.2B since 2011) and corporations are acquiring them at an increasing rate (Home Chef meal kits was acquired by Kroger for $200M in 2018). Unfortunately, this means it’s becoming harder for brands to separate themselves from the noise.
We knew ilixer would need an all-star agency to help them compete in the growing powdered food D2C market and Orchard + Magnetic Content Studios was the clear match. Their combined expertise in branding, marketing strategy and analyzing consumer data was exactly what ilixer needed to create stronger customer connections and brand loyalty.
Orchard’s Grow Super Food (Companies) (as told by the Orchard team)
It all starts with the consumer. Competitors in the category of meal supplements and powdered food have already built a strong following of health-conscious people who want to go from a good diet to a great diet. Our competitors offer a good choice, but it’s not the greatest. Ilixer is that superior choice that can take a diet from good to great. Our strategy is to build the business by launching with point of difference messaging that will target potential brand switchers, capture their allegiance, and convert them to loyal brand evangelists.
To cut corners and/or costs, first movers in the category offered powdered meals that are merely fortified with vitamins and minerals. These may be a better choice than processed foods, but research shows that naturally occurring vitamins and minerals from actual food is more bioavailable (absorbs better) than synthetic vitamins and fortified ingredients. ilixer is made from actual food, so it’s a great choice to fill the need of the target audience who desires to take their nutrition from good to great.
To articulate all the aspects of the brand, the Orchard & Magnetic team developed an equity pyramid to serve as the foundational building blocks of the brand and all it aspires to be. An important aspect of the pyramid was to clearly express the heart and soul of the ilixer brand and the founders’ mission to “nourish the people of the world completely with every meal.”
Orchard’s Harvest
Each scoop of ilixer contains all 27 essential vitamins and minerals and has the optimal profile of protein, carbs, fats and fiber for a healthy diet. This inspired the collective team’s powerful creative idea — The Perfect Meal.
Tagline: “Perhaps The Most Completely Nutritious Meal You’ll Ever Have”
To reflect its unique point of difference in the marketplace, the brand needed a more contemporary logo and powerful visualizations that would bring to life the glorious, real food that actually goes into the product. The agency teams and ilixer worked together on a visual exploratory that would set the path for the brand moving forward. The mood boards strove to capture the pure authenticity of the real foods before they are turned into powered form by showcasing their natural, vibrant colors and incredible beauty — all within a minimalist design aesthetic.
The logo system was architected with color designations in order to add product lines and extensions over time, with the brand guide serving as the playbook for typography and iconography, all to be leveraged across applications.
Data Feeds The Brain
Orchard’s analytics team collected and analyzed data to help better understand topics critical to the early stages of the brand’s life. We leveraged data insights to:
• Create the profile of the ideal customer and ascertain the brand’s market potential — information ilixer can take to venture groups for funding
• Determine a pricing strategy to better understand the elasticity of the pricing model for maximum profitability
• Forecast sales and revenue thresholds with associated media and marketing investment
Food For Thought
From Orchard: With the twelve-week Brandery exercise, the ilixer journey has only begun. The Orchard and Magnetic Content Studio teams are working on executing a go-to-market digital accelerator program, along with an updated website experience, to drive ecommerce sales and build momentum in the marketplace. We look forward to a growing brand profile that will attract the necessary VC funding to help the company fulfill its ultimate mission: to nourish the people of the world completely with every meal.
From ilixer: Going through the Brandery program is beneficial for a litany of reasons to any startup looking to grow fast. However, the resource we found incredibly valuable was the agency partnership. We cannot underscore enough the entire agency pairing process that ilixer had with Orchard and Magnetic. We worked closely with the entire Orchard and Magnetic teams and were able to move the ilixer brand forward in strides we hadn’t thought possible in such a short amount of time. We highly recommend Orchard and Magnetic for any company looking to get serious about Marketing and Branding.
If you are interested in learning more or working with Orchard and/or Magnetic Content Stuidios, reach out to our Program Manager Jess Mabis (jess@brandery.org) to get connected.
About Orchard
Orchard is a full-service performance marketing agency based in OTR that seamlessly blends the ambition and intuition of digital natives with the acumen of proven brand builders and advertising experts. Orchard has the resources and experience to deliver advanced analytics, communications planning, paid media, creative, organic and paid search, website experiences and lead nurture/marketing automation programs. That is, basically all the things a fledgling brand, like ilixer, needs to grow.
About Magnetic Content Studios
Magnetic, a Cincinnati agency, develops strategic, fully integrated digital experiences emphasizing publishing to attract audiences, influence decision making and nurture relationships, while generating proprietary intelligence to inform more effective use of paid and organic media. Data fuels Magnetic. It uncovers insights for persona and consumer journey understanding. It informs content creation, communications planning and media strategies. It also drives constant optimization. The storytellers at Magnetic helped enhance the ilixer narrative.
