Blue Diamond: XTREMES Snack Nuts

How might we disrupt the snacking category with an extreme flavor proposition?

Breakthrough Strategy | Proposition Development

How hardcore spicy food fanatics showed Blue Diamond Almond Cooperative how to disrupt the snacking category

The Challenge

Blue Diamond Growers is 110 years old. As the largest grower of almonds, it produces over 80% of the world’s annual supply. In January 2020, CEO Mark Jansen announced Blue Diamonds commitment to increase its market share through delivering new, innovative products to drive household penetration.

Our challenge was set: How might we innovate to attract a younger consumer? How might we excite the next generation of snackers? Demand for spicy snacks was growing among Gen Z and Millenials; but no one had yet brought REAL heat to the table. How might we do hot and spicy right for our future consumers?

The Outcomes

The themes and communication territories we uncovered helped to define a proposition that would make our future consumer lean in. The brand needed to challenge the consumer. Appeal to their desire to conquer spicy food; but keep them coming back for more with real heat and real flavor. This strategy would create a groundswell among all Gen Z and Millennials while still appealing to those true heat seekers among them.

The Result

We inspired The #28XTREMES challenge. The TikTok campaign alone delivered 3.6 billion views in 3 days. Real hot stuff.

Our Approach

If you’re not creating with your future customers, you’re not creating for your future customers. We needed to build brand equity with Gen Z consumers. In collaboration with members of The Sense Network, who were fanatical about hot and spicy food, we worked iteratively to evolve the product proposition and communications into a game-changing brand experience.

How The Sense Network Helped

Heat Seekers, by nature, are extreme. Fiercely loyal to their brand of choice, but hard to please, they do nothing by halves. We needed to understand what drives trial and stimulated their love of heat and spice.

From hot food bloggers to global spice hunters we gathered 111 diverse perspectives on the role of heat to articulate and model the sensations of the spice journey: from anticipation to regret.

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