Hippeas snack brand launches with branding inspired by the 'modern hippie'
Hippeas, a new organic chickpea snack, has launched in the market to appeal to consumers looking for brands that are both tasty and interested in doing good.
The global brand, which launched yesterday (13 June) in retail partners including Starbucks, Boots and Holland & Barrett, had its visual identity, packaging, personality and tone of voice created by Jkr, which was approached by Hippeas owner Green Park in 2015.
The name and identity of the Hippeas brand is geared towards a modern ‘hippie’ generation, and in keeping with this the brand has partnered with Farm Africa on its joint initiative ‘Food for Good’.
The brand personality takes inspiration from the iconic smiling face of the original hippie era, but has been updated for a modern audience. The visual identity is centred on a bold yellow face with a different coloured tongue for different flavours to make the brand stand out on shelf, online and in consumers’ minds.
Meanwhile, the brand language and tone of voice aims to strike a balance between being socially-conscious but containing irreverent humour.
Stephen McDavid, design director at Jkr, said that the agency wanted to create a "mainstream snacking brand" rather than limiting Hippeas to the challenger market.
"As the brand name alone unlocks such a rich visual language in the mind, we wanted to avoid the clichés of the hippie era and create something charismatic and relevant for both today and the future," he said. "For a brand to be big, it needs to be brave and confident, and our design reflects that sense of ambition and aspiration.”
Hippeas are gluten-free, vegan, low in fat and high in protein and fibre and come in four flavours: Sweet & Smokin’, Pepper Power, Far Out Fajita and In Herbs We Trust.