A Natural
Positioning Shift
Sensient Food Colors
Project Goals
In the food ingredient industry, growing a global business requires both substance and strategy. For Sensient, partnering with MarketPlace to reposition its branding from a commodities supplier to a value added provider was key in the successful launch of its line of natural food color ingredients.
Strategy
A well-established company known globally for manufacturing colors, flavors, and fragrances, Sensient Food Colors partnered with MarketPlace to make a change. With consumer trends shifting toward all things natural, the company recognized that, in order to pursue a leadership position in the food ingredient industry, it would need to evolve its brand, both in its product offerings and positioning.
Informed by market research and first-hand food industry experience, MarketPlace developed a strategy and tactical plan to reposition global company Sensient Food Colors in the market with the introduction of its line of Fusion natural food colors.
Branding
Making the move from the commoditized business of synthetic colors, the Sensient brand needed a new look to match its new, natural positioning. Recognizing the market need for food colors that could be relied upon to deliver consistent, bold, natural colors—colors that food and beverage companies rely on to serve as hallmarks of their brands—we created an ad campaign and other assets that touted the difference in the quality and precision of Sensient’s colors.
PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART DIRECTION
Communicating the new position for Sensient’s Fusion line—both natural and precise—required compelling visualizations to help audiences grasp this combination of seemingly distinct traits. We developed art direction to ensure the new brand modeled both consistency and quality, and applied that direction to custom photography. Our bottle imagery quickly became iconic to the brand and was always used with the Fusion logo thereafter.
A BOLD DIFFERENCE
With professional in-house photography, we developed a visual brand that reflected its revived position and stood out among other food industry advertising. Because of its striking look and strong messaging, “The Bold Difference in Your Brand” campaign was recognized—and recalled—by the target audience, as well as the advertising industry, earning it an ADDY.
VISUALIZING VALUE
Once Sensient Food Colors rose to the top with its natural food color offerings, its parent company, Sensient Technologies, recognized the value of repositioning and developing a consistent platform for other operating units beyond the food and beverage market. Partnering with additional Sensient brands, MarketPlace designed a web presence for its Industrial, Pharmaceutical, and Imaging Technologies divisions to create a familial look that united the business units and fostered brand equity.
SUPPORTING SALES
In addition to defining a consistent, branded look among Sensient Food Colors’ sister companies, we applied our food industry expertise and technology background to develop a custom Sample Request System that would give leads the opportunity to request product samples and provide Sensient the ability to track relevant data.
Sales Growth
With the success of the initial launch of the natural color ingredients, it was important to keep the brand’s momentum going. Having established Sensient as the premier natural food colors partner, we evolved the concept to appeal to the audience’s need to brand their own products, in part with the colors used in their food and beverage applications.
Through our full-service approach, MarketPlace not only developed strategy and creative but also planned and managed media and press relations, created sales materials, and implemented trade show strategies to promote the success of Sensient Food Colors in the launch of its natural food color ingredient line and building of its reputation as the global leader in natural food colors.
OUTCOMES
Because of our food ingredient industry expertise, media relationships, and full spectrum of in-house services, we were able to help Sensient establish new brand positioning in the marketplace and launch its natural product line, setting it up for long-term success.
SO WHAT’S NEXT?