Date
2023
Client
Carbe Diem!
Switching to Growth Mode
Situation & Strat
Our partnership with the innovation team behind Carbe Diem started before there was even a product to sell. First, there were people to understand. From the incubation phase onward, understanding the consumer would be critical to every stage of brand development — from naming to package design to color choices. And as the brand moved from testing to launch to sell-in to growth, staying close to the consumer remained just as vital.
Work
A BRAND GROW-UP, NOT A GLOW-UP
For the initial launch, we faced a highly commoditized and functional pasta category — on store shelves and digital shelves. The very name “Carbe Diem!” was designed to be strategically intuitive, disruptive, and memorable in this crowded space. The name served as both a product proposition and rally cry. Packaging took the opportunity to bring that brand promise to life and telegraph it physically and visually for consumers in a way that was instantly understood. That’s what color, the exclamation point, and the smiling product window are all about. We aimed to disrupt the digital shelf first, strategically deploying a high-contrast yellow pack color.
It worked. But as we deepened our consumer understanding, it was time for a strategic grow-up as the brand prepared to enter traditional retail. Our audience has health goals but is done with dieting. She just wants to enjoy the food she loves. And the brilliance of Carbe Diem? It tastes like real wheat pasta — it’s not some edgy new alternative.
Long term, Carbe Diem needed to stand out and fit in on the grocery store shelf. We switched to a deep, rich green that said, “This is pasta.” But we swapped the category’s old-world heritage cues for hot pink energy. The low-carb proposition remained clear, but still felt like a celebration. Designing the brand for long-term growth was different than designing for launch, but both approaches were anchored in the consumer-centric idea of
“Welcome back to the food you love.”
OUR FIRST AD CAMPAIGN WAS A DINNER PARTY
Carbe Diem was winning online and on shelves—exceeding sales goals and expanding distribution. But how would it play in the real world? Once again, we turned to the consumer and our brand-world principles. Our first activation was a restaurant takeover, bringing together retail buyers, real consumers, brand founders, and influencers. One night proved the brand promise in a thousand ways — from the food itself to the rally cry of connection and celebration. Because a brand isn’t just a box on a shelf—it’s about making yourself relevant to your audience and building a story that can evolve along the way.
