What I will be providing here is a critique of Marlow Food’s Quorn line. It will include my own ideas around a (faux) campaign in regards to marketing the benefits of, and in differentiating, their products post their current “healthy protein” campaign endorsed by Mo Farah. It takes the form of a semiological analysis.
The above packaging (generic across all their Quorn foodstuffs) attempts to compete directly with both meat and other meat-free alternatives, despite the chilled and frozen versions being kept in a separate section in the supermarkets to their meaty cousins. The orange and white Quorn logo appears as a seal that wraps around the product giving it the authority of authentication, while the colour orange has multiple cultural connotations attached to it, but is generally thought of as a bright cheerful colour. It is intentional that Quorn packaging could just as well be selling sausages made of meat. Quorn wants its products to be seen as a healthier equal to their meat equivalent, as can be attested to in some packs having (in green) “healthy protein” on them.
However, I believe Quorn should be selling the ‘wonderful’ and ‘magical’ qualities of the protein, not just marketing it as a healthier equal, but being more honest about what mycoprotein is (it’s a fungi), and advertising the incredibly clever and ecological manufacturing method. The food is grown vertically and takes up little horizontal space of which there is a shortage in farming practices. It also grows very quickly and uses less resources than common methods. My suggestion is that it be branded using the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland aesthetic.
The famous black and white line drawings in the Alice books are by Lewis Carroll himself and represent the magical world of Alice’s adventures. In the part of the story represented above, Alice meets the hookah-smoking caterpillar who gives her advice on eating the mushroom (in summary, one side makes you grow taller and the other shorter). Alice, also gives the caterpillar advice in respect to him eventually turning into a butterfly. These both refer to not only change, but metamorphosis: Quorn is transformative. The metamorphosis motif can be directly tied into selling both the healthy benefits of Quorn and also how it is made.
The new 'Alice in Quornderland' packaging: the black and white line-drawing aesthetic distinguishes the brand from its competition, making it stand out and presenting it as extraordinary and progressive.
The new 'Alice in Quornderland' advert: The ‘Advice From a Caterpillar’ chapter ends with Alice exclaiming that she must “get back into the beautiful garden”, which ties the brand back to nature, health and vitality. In the advert, after her discussion with the caterpillar about the benefits of Quorn, Alice returns to the ‘beautiful garden’.
The new strapline: Transform your meals, transform yourself!
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