Bear
No added nonsense
since 2009.
Brand Strategy. Name Creation. Copywriting. Visual Identity. Packaging Design. Artwork. Print Management. Brand World.
Our first client launched on a shoestring and sold for £70m six years later. Born from the simple idea of naked nature, BEAR both reinvented dried fruit as a healthy snack and created the design codes of natural snacking. In contrast to the overly reassuring imagery and messaging of competitor brands, we focused on naive illustration and a ‘no added nonsense’ tagline that exudes rather than claims ‘natural’. An instant hit with consumers, BEAR has inspired hundreds of kids and a host of competitors.
Positioning the brand as a healthy snack rather than a dried fruit was key to the design strategy behind our brand creation. Keen to challenge the cute and cuddly marketing that had become so expected in the kid-friendly snacking category, the character of BEAR was famous for his no compromise approach, giving voice to the brand’s challenger opinions (he snarls at sulphites and growls at gumming agents). The brand’s straight talking and humourous tone of voice is instrumental in helping to promote healthy eating without feeling preachy or overly worthy, demonstrating a brilliant understanding of what kids (and adults) really respond to.
BEAR’s visual identity has played a vital role in the brand’s success. From packaging to website, collectors’ cards to trade stands, posters to outdoor events, the brand identity has benefited from a clear consistency of application that ensures BEAR is recognised wherever he goes. Highly strategic, yet blessed with effortless simplicity, it’s a bold and campaign-able identity that appeals to all demographics and ages.
From the beginning, BEAR was imagined as a larger-than-life brand ambassador. Working in a cave, deep in the woods, he had a story that transported kids to another world and quickly captured the consumer imagination – proved by the 1000s of letters and drawings BEAR received each week. What’s remarkable is that all that depth emanated from a flat, two-dimensional logo. And that was the secret of the BEAR brand – a brave simplicity of approach that gave consumers the freedom to engage and interact.
Photography from We’re going on an Adventure
STRUCTURES THAT SPEAK VOLUMES
The shippers & SRPs we created for BEAR Paws partnership with WWF used structural design to tug at the heartstrings and demonstrate the plight of rare and endangered bears. A cage-like die cut to the shipper draws attention to eyes on the bags inside, while overhanging paws on the SRP emphasises their vulnerability as their eyes peak over the top. Across the Alphabites cereal range and BEAR Claws boxes, 3D structural fold-outs and die-cuts were an essential part of the brand’s attention to detail and desire to truly engage.
Photography from We’re going on an Adventure
THE BEAR FACTS
As a brand creation project, BEAR is a striking demonstration of the power of design and creativity in engaging consumers beyond product. BEAR has a lasting legacy, not just through exceptional commercial effectiveness, but also social benefits through its investment in female fruit-growing communities in Ecuador and South Africa.
