LIGHTLIFE FOODS - BRAND RELAUNCH

After a three year sales decline in the “meat alternative” category, Lightlife was looking to sell more meat alts to vegans and vegetarians. The problem with that plan? Vegans and vegetarians made up only about 7% of the US population at the time. Also, who wants an “alternative” anything? It is inherently second best, or a substitute.

Research showed that about 70% of US millennials were turning their diets toward “flexitarianism” or just consuming less animal products. But they were not willing to sacrifice on taste. They were searching for delicious protein-packed meals without compromise so positioning Lightlife as a meat alternative wouldn’t resonate. Instead, we needed to change the definition of “meat” altogether.

Lightlife and meat share many of the same characteristics - they are both delicious, juicy, satisfying sources of protein. The only difference is that Lightlife was made from plants. But come to think of it, all meat is made from plants… cows eat grass and turn it into beef, chickens eat corn and turn it into poultry. Lightlife simply makes meat directly from plants instead of the animals who eat the plants.

Lightlife: Meat Without The Middleman.

Lightlife’s budgets were a fraction of their competitors so a controversial message was how they’d earn attention. And it worked. Sales increased by 18% in the first year. By year 4, sales were up 35% year over year.

Need more proof that the definition of meat has changed? After four years, the brand was purchased by the largest meat company in Canada.

Only 9% of the U.S. population is vegan or vegetarian, 91% eats meat. With Lightlife's competitors using bigger budgets to talk about how healthy and animal-free they were, it felt like the right time to change the conversation, and the definition of meat.

Case Study

So we went into Lightlife's office and declared that their brand, their industry-heck, the whole world-was completely wrong. After an awkward pause during which we were pretty sure they would call security, they agreed wholeheartedly, hired us and had us make this video.

Meat without the Middleman Launch Video