Overview
Handsome Brook Farm is an egg brand focused on delivering great tasting eggs while supporting small-family farming methods, and advocating for animal welfare. The company was looking to expand regionally, but suffered from low awareness and lackluster brand engagement from retailers and consumers. They simply weren’t getting credit for building a brand that is honest and sustainable, with a great-tasting product.
The Brief
The company wanted to crack how to tell their story in an authentically ownable way that builds awareness for the brand, engages our target audiences, and educates consumers on the benefits of ‘pasture-raised’ eggs. The ask aimed to reimagine how Handsome Brook Farm showed up at three key touchpoints: point-of-purchase, website, and social media.
Rebuilding an Identity
Discussions and early moodboards developed with the client uncovered a desire to maintain the sense of care and closeness to the pasture. This was by far their most valuable messaging opportunity in a moment when most people have no idea how their eggs are produced or where they come from. The issue was that the best parts of their story weren’t being tapped into. They were in need of stronger, more cohesive signals to communicate their values and mission in order to engage their audiences.
It was decided that the company would take a pastoral-like position, while aiming for an overtly wholesome confidence throughout Handsome Brook Farm’s identity. This was expressed through declarative language and the painterly illustrations which were crafted as the foundation for the brand.
Repackaging “Pasture-Raised”
Educating the consumer on one of Handsome Brook Farm’s key differentiators, animal welfare, was so important to the company that it was necessary to take it to the shelf. The “Hen Happiness Index”, a visual tool showing the categorical levels of humane treatment of hens became a feature of the packaging redesign. Along with the development of distinctive brand assets like the illustrated hen and gingham patterns, this served to convey “pasture-raised” eggs as the most wholesome, sustainable and humane choice for consumers.
Expanding Beyond the Pasture
When work began on the Handsome Brook Farm project, the company had virtually no presence online, only a few images on their social media account. It became clear that if we were to become a recognizable, trusted brand, this needed to change. The brand needed content and ownable assets that could communicate the character of the brand and its message to their audience.
Delicious eggs, life on the farm, and humanely-raised hens became the key points of communication in the company’s story. Social media is where the brand focused on awareness and engagement with mouthwatering recipes and playful egg visuals. The website is where education about production methods and sustainable practices would be housed.
The Outcome
This work transformed Handsome Brook Farm from its local, farmer’s market era into the modern, foodie-culture led era where it could begin to confidently share its story with the world while gaining the trust of retail partners and consumers.