LIVE Beverages
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Design Assignment
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Naming
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Brand Development
The challenge
The LIVE brand started much like other natural alternative beverages, with a health enthusiast with big, healthy ambitions for the loved ones in his life. But unlike other kombuchas and natural sodas, this was intentionally not another an esoteric lifestyle brand; it was a simple way for average people to make smarter choices without sacrificing taste. Despite a loyal base, LIVE brand risked being overlooked on the shelf and delisted as the category exploded and competition grew.
Our approach
Focusing on the original mission, Marco Polo Explorers identified strategic whitespace for people who knew they had to do better but were unlikely to make big shifts or give up their favorites. This focused on enabling small steps and comradery, not forcing major changes or striving for unrealistic ideals. This meant a repositioning and brand identity that would both stand out on shelf and fit well in the consumers’ general approach to beverages. Our work went seamlessly from this strategic repositioning all to creating and executing a new brand identity and new packaging for all products.
The Result
Instead of focusing on the category tropes of a fully healthy lifestyle and the personal reinvention that comes with it, LIVE doubled down on being an easy step into doing better for yourself. With a brand promise of “great tasting everyday wins for the long game,” as well as new portfolio and innovation strategies, we reimagined the brand with a new identity and packaging, as well as the launch of a new product, probiotic shots, to complement its kombucha and probiotic soda offers. That release, in the new identity, won the 2021 Beverage Digest Award: Best Ready-to-Drink Functional Drink.