LesserEvil Snacks
Brand Strategy + Design
Brand Strategy
SWOT Analysis
Innovation Strategy
Consumer Research
Package Design
Illustration
Branded Collateral DesignWhen we partnered with LesserEvil Healthy Snacks, the brand was a Whole Foods darling — widely recognized for its Buddha Bowl popcorn, but not yet for the name LesserEvil itself. We repositioned them as the “Snack Guru,” shifting equity from a single product line to a scalable masterbrand platform built for national growth. From there, we co-created a go-to-market strategy, innovation roadmap, and playful packaging system that empowered millions of consumers to embrace mindful snacking and redefined what better-for-you indulgence could feel like in everyday life.
Completed while Design Strategist at Voodoo Brands (formerly Retail Voodoo)
❋ Brand Diagnosis & PositioningThrough category audits, stakeholder interviews, and audience analysis, we uncovered a key tension: while Buddha Bowl popcorn had strong recognition, the LesserEvil masterbrand lacked a unifying story and disciplined system to guide growth. This insight reframed the opportunity from niche natural player to a premium-for-the-masses brand built to cross into conventional retail without losing its values.
❋ Logo & Package DesignWe translated the strategy into a cohesive visual system that clarified LesserEvil as the hero masterbrand while allowing for color and flexible illustrations to be the guide for sublines and flavor navigation. Streamlined messaging, improved hierarchy and refreshed logo lockups strengthened shelf presence across natural and conventional channels.
❋ Brand Architecture & Innovation RoadmapWe validated three positioning territories, ultimately anchoring the brand in a scalable ideology called Mindful Moment that transformed snack time into a conscious ritual. We created a cohesive masterbrand platform capable of guiding innovation and storytelling. The result was a disciplined architecture that ensured every future product reinforced LesserEvil’s clean ingredient ethos and mindful narrative.
❋ The ResultsThe repositioning shifted equity from a single popcorn line to a powerful, scalable masterbrand ready for national expansion. Over the next three years, the business achieved 10x growth and was acquired by The Hershey Company in 2025. The transformation proved that ideology-driven strategy, when codified into systems, can unlock both cultural resonance and commercial scale.
STRATEGIC FINDING
When we partnered with LesserEvil, the brand was widely recognized for its Buddha Bowl popcorn but not yet for the name LesserEvil itself. While the products resonated, the masterbrand lacked the clarity and cohesion needed to carry the weight of future innovation, expanded distribution and national awareness.
Our opportunity was bigger than a refresh. We helped transform LesserEvil from a spiritually inspired popcorn line into a purpose-driven masterbrand. On pack, we utilized bespoke character illustrations to guide subline differentiation and color to signal category convention for flavor.
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