The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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By Kendra Barnett, Associate Editor

June 7, 2022 | 4 min read

Health-Ade Kombucha wants consumers to know that its probiotic beverages are good news for guts everywhere.

Many consumers are in the dark when it comes to the health benefits of kombucha. Health-Ade wants to change that. The kombucha brand, which was founded as a farmers’ market startup in 2012, has teamed up with indie ad agency Zambezi and Emmy Award-winning illustrator and animator Mike Perry to launch a new campaign promoting the gut benefits of its products.

Using a combination of storytelling and education-focused messaging – augmented by Perry’s animations – the campaign, dubbed ‘Get That Good Gut Feeling,’ highlights how Health-Ade Kombucha improves the physical and mental wellbeing of those who drink it.

“We think education and awareness are key in promoting good gut health, but it is important for Health-Ade to stay true to itself and make those messages fun, uplifting and easily digestible – pun intended,” said Charlotte Mostaed, the company’s vice-president of marketing, in a statement shared with The Drum. “People reach for kombucha for the health benefits, but they stay for that deliciously refreshing bubbly taste and the feel-good energy they get when they drink kombucha every day.”

kombucha

To get the message across, Perry has employed his signature bold, colorful designs. The animations also integrate a number of the playful line-drawn characters that appear on Health-Ade packaging. Together with the help of Zambezi, Health-Ade and Perry created a one-of-a-kind ‘gut world’ concept, bringing a new sense of imagination to the biosystem of the human stomach and intestines.

At the same time, the illustrations demonstrate that Health-Ade Kombucha can be the perfect pairing for any situation. “For us, this campaign is a way to show the power of the probiotic goodness of kombucha on gut health, as well as invite consumers to drink Health-Ade Kombucha as the perfect pairing with a favorite meal, that amazingly refreshing treat during a barbeque or as the answer to a long night of overindulgence,” said Mostaed.

As a whole, the campaign aims to encapsulate the health benefits of the beverage. Perry’s bright designs, which are cast alongside feel-good taglines, educate consumers on how kombucha’s healthy acids, probiotic bacteria and antioxidants benefit the gut’s microbiomes – ultimately helping to support digestion, immune system strength, good moods and healthy hair and skin. ‘Get That Good Gut Feeling,’ said Zambezi’s chief creative officer Gavin Lester, seeks to “amplify the goodness of kombucha.”

The campaign is rolling out nationally, beginning today across digital, streaming, out-of-home and other channels. Lester, for one, hopes that it serves as a “contemporary way to expand [Health-Ade’s] reach and grow [its] audience,” per today’s announcement.

And the effort is aimed to help the budding brand capture more market share; the company claims that it’s currently the fastest-growing brand in the kombucha category, generating more than $200m in revenue across over 50,000 retail stores.

Part of the brand’s growth is also likely due to its product line expansion; in 2020, the brand rolled out a line of prebiotic sodas, which last year were renamed Health-Ade Pop. The product is part of a growing category of gut-friendly sodas slurping up an increasingly large share of the market; other key players include Olipop, Poppi and Culture Pop.

‘Get That Good Gut Feeling’ is the brand’s first marketing push since it brought on Zambezi to spearhead creative and media earlier this year.

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