I have a favourite brand. Saying that feels like I’ve just admitted to having a favourite child- I only have one of those, so choosing a favourite brand is way harder.
My favourite brand is Tony’s Chocolonely, an impact company that makes chocolate.
You will notice that I didn’t call it a chocolate brand, and this is something that I learned after listening to the brilliant Uncensored CMO podcast with Ben Greensmith, Lord Chocoloney III (aka GM UK and Ireland).
Tony’s Chocoloney exists to eradicate slavery in the chocolate category, its open-source model is designed to be transparent, traceable and imitable- and the brand is putting pressure on the chocolate giants to overhaul their entire supply chain.
I love the mission, I love that it is an outstanding product and most of all I love how they changing the narrative with limited resources.
So, what makes Tony Chololoney a brilliant example of a challenger brand in action?
Tony's have a clear position that reframes the category in their favour. Their stance on slavery calls out the other brands and gets you to question the ethics of all the other chocolate brands. And secondly, they have an obsession with brilliant execution, constantly finding ways to ignite the conversation and bring the brand story to life.
Tony’s Chocoloney considers its packaging to be its biggest and more important piece of real estate.
The colours, the imagery, the visual brand identity set it apart from everything else on the shelf and incite customers to pick it up. The customer is then taught about the brand’s story and mission.
But, it’s when you open the wrapper that the real magic starts. Unlike every other bar in the category, the chocolate is not divided into squares, instead, it’s broken into unequal pieces to represent the unfair divisions of wealth within the industry.
The desire to find new ways to ignite the conversation and get people talking is central to their marketing strategy.
You’ve likely heard about their Christmas countdown calendar- a campaign that made headlines nationally, including being picked up by the BBC. To illustrate the unfair division of profits, Tony’s left chocolate out of door 8 (don’t worry there was an extra one indoor 9). The stunt was polarising, with lovers and haters of the initiative- but whichever camp you were in it sparked a discussion and exposed the brand and the problem to new people.
To kick off the New Year, they have done a partnership with Waitrose where they have launched 3 exclusive new flavours which instead of the normal packaging have been relaced by conversation starters eg “what does it mean to be inhumane”. Not only is this a smart way of creating noise around a NPD but the CTA of the packaging is so impactful that it will invite even more people to pick up the bar.
When it comes to recruiting long term brand advocates, who in turn will spread the brand message, the Tony’s team understands the most powerful way to spread awareness of the brand is via telling its story. Sampling initiatives are designed as, ‘impactful encounters’ where customers get to trial the product and learn about the brand.
At the end of the year, they also do a 60 minuite wrap up- yes, I sat and watch an entire hours’ worth of content in which I learned in detail about the industry, their open-source model and their roadmap for the future.
Tony's are now only worth 0.02% of the category globally so have a very long way to go and I am so excited to see what they do next.
Whilst your brand might not be an impact company, disguised as a brand there are some big learnings that you can build into your approach:
Make every touchpoint count. Use every opportunity to bring to life the story and DNA of the brand.
Packaging matters. You need to create a way of drawing people to pick up the product, picking it up is the first hurdle, so what you look like on the shelf matters.
Sampling will be a core part of any start-up/scale-ups marketing mix, so find new ways to bring this to life. Start with the creation of an experience, what does this look like.
Get creative with NPD launches, think big and bold.
Talkability, is your biggest opportunity to get mass attention. What can you do to get people to stop, share and take action- and if you need any help here- get in touch.
I would love to know what your favourite brand is and why?
Carly
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Sprowt is a creative marketing studio that helps purpose-driven challenger brands that believe in the triple bottom line - people, planet and profit - stand out and scale.
We apply the tried and tested strategies of building memorable brands and then rip up the rule book to create disruptive brand and marketing strategies; growing the brands that matter into the household names of tomorrow.
