Adams Supplements is a more than 15-year-old local dietary supplement brand that needed a new approach to secure its place in a dynamic market with strong competition and an increasingly demanding consumer. Through relevant positioning and a fresh, coherent image, the Adams rebrand proved a success for the business, driving sales growth and being awarded "Best Visual Identity in the FMCG Sector" at the prestigious competition dedicated to excellence in rebranding and brand development, Transform Awards Europe - London 2023.
The dietary supplement category is a very special one, highly fragmented between multiple product and brand options, available in various offline and online sales channels, and at the same time somewhat reserved and traditionalist in terms of purchasing and consumption habits. In this complex and perhaps still difficult to decipher market landscape, the Adams Supplements brand needs a fresh approach to gain a place beyond the familiar shelves of the retail chain owned by parent company Adams Vision, where possible to access new consumer segments is much greater, but also much stronger competition.
Adams Supplements’ evolution until now has been largely influenced by opportunities provided by either production, distribution or commercial terms, not benefitting from a very clear portfolio strategy and brand message, or a consistent identity. This is also the reason why the founder of the business considers that Adams’ image is outdated, too "colorful", not connected with the trends of the category. Feeling that the lack of relevant visual positioning poses a threat to the business, in a category where consumers tend to become better informed about their options and choices, he saw the need for a rebranding to continue to harness the potential offered by the growing market.
We started the process with some sales and qualitative data related to the category that we obtained from discussions with Adams’ management, but also with a few indications regarding the desired direction of brand development in terms of portfolio, positioning, packaging design. Therefore, we wanted first of all to understand the category, the factors that influence its evolution, who it is and what the competition promises, but especially to find out who the consumer is, what is his perception of the category and the options that it is currently offering him. Subsequently, we used all these insights to build the arguments for the positioning recommendations and concepts proposed for the logo and packaging design, which opened a slightly different perspective for the client than the one he started the project with.
Our first thought always goes to the consumer when we are dealing with a product brand. He is best able to give us answers to all the questions that are essential for brand development. So, through a series of in-depth interviews with different types of consumers, we set out to find out who he is, what his needs and expectations are, what motivations or barriers determine his buying and consumption behavior, to identify that segment to whom Adams can promise something truly valuable, which he doesn’t feel he is presently getting elsewhere.
The consumer profile that proved to have potential for the Adams brand was that of the "informed realist", as we called it. It is that adult with a demanding lifestyle and multiple responsibilities, pragmatic and thoughtful, who consumes food supplements regularly, informing himself thoroughly before choosing a product, his central need being to try to ensure a balanced lifestyle.
Discovering the needs and benefits expected by the consumer both functionally and emotionally, the next step was to see if and how the brands in the category respond to them, at least at the declarative level, analyzing the messages they use in communication. In this way, we were able to identify the positioning area where Adams could come up with a relevant and credible promise, and this led to the brand idea expressed through the tagline, Your source of balance.
Once the consumer profile and brand idea were established, we formulated the Adams credo around them and defined the brand personality, exemplifying its tone of voice through different types of messages, in order to create the positioning framework that will underlie the identity and brand communication in the future.
The new visual identity supports the brand idea by achieving a balance between the natural character of the supplements and the pharmaceutical precision. This balance is visible in the created symbol, which represents a generic leaf, composed of clearly constructed geometric shapes. We have attached to this symbol a simple and exact wordmark, using the silver color to emphasize the prowess and rigor in terms of product quality. The rules for aligning and composing the identity have been carefully detailed in the brand guide we developed.
Using the precise, exact visual style and sharp wordmark angles, we built Adams’ own particular packaging architecture. The triangle resulting from the intersection with the first letter generates the entire structure of the labels, dividing the surface into clear areas, with distinct information. The special treatment applied to the images, together with the accurate use of gradients, create a coherent but diverse family of packaging, with many possibilities for further development.
To ensure the consistent implementation of Adams' new identity, we used the main brand messages and visual language to create design templates for various offline and online communication materials, from digital banners and posters that can be used in points of sale up to promotional items.
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