VEGAN BOWLS FOR ALL
I led the brand development, go-to-market strategy, and launch of virtual restaurant brand “Vegan Bowls For All” in 29 unique trade areas across five states in under two months, growing sales by 5% in its first quarter.
Total Read Time: 4 Minutes
Introduction
Veggie Grill
In 2022, I joined the Veggie Grill team, serving as its Marketing Manager. It was the leading 100% plant-based restaurant company in the United States, with a portfolio of three unique brands offering both culinary breadth and depth to an increasingly ‘plant-curious’ marketplace.
The Project
While the Veggie Grill menu had long offered a curated selection of plant protein and fiber-packed bowls, the perception was that the brand had lost some of its health halo given it had leaned into comfort food platforms. This sentiment, coupled with an increase in delivery and take out orders, presented us with an opportunity. Our solution: launch a new delivery-only bowl concept, Vegan Bowls For All, with a menu designed entirely for a health-conscious target audience.
The Objectives
1) Attract net new customers to drive top-line sales
2) Re-engage lapsed health enthusiast customers
3) Develop and launch the brand as quickly as possible
My Role
As the lead for this initiative, I was eager to infuse my passion for health and wellness into the brand DNA. Given that the concept was a virtual brand (available only on major delivery service channels, operating out of 29 Veggie Grill kitchens, but with zero in-store brand presence), it was mission critical that we optimize the brand positioning and messaging to captivate the health-conscious consumer without any dilution of the Veggie Grill parent brand.
Armed with a brand style guide, a list of menu items and ingredients, as well as the desired business outcomes; my mandate was to elevate the brand as much as possible while targeting being fully online and operational in no more than 12 weeks.
Challenges
Differentiating from Veggie Grill: As Vegan Bowls For All was part of the Veggie Grill brand family, a significant challenge was to distinctly position it without leveraging the parent brand's reputation. It was crucial to establish a unique brand identity without diluting or conflicting with Veggie Grill's established brand image.
Consumer Education and Awareness: Educating consumers about the new brand, its offerings, and the value proposition was vital. This involved clearly communicating VBFA's focus on health and wellness and differentiating it from Veggie Grill's existing offerings. Innovative strategies were also needed to establish a virtual brand presence and customer base in a predominantly physical marketplace.
Tight Timeline for Development and Launch: The project timeline was exceptionally tight, with less than 60 days allocated for the entire process of brand development, website creation, and launch. This demanded swift, efficient decision-making and execution.
Strategy
My first step was to develop a deep understanding of our target audience to ensure that our brand would resonate with their needs and aspirations. Through deep qualitative and quantitative research, we identified our ideal customers as busy professionals, health-conscious/eco-aware Gen-Z’ers, new parents, and ‘plant-curious’ fitness enthusiasts. Armed with this research, I began to work on the brand’s purpose and position.
I wanted to communicate that we offered a viable solution, which was not only delicious and nutritious, but also addressed the customer’s pain points of convenience, affordability, and health. This led to our final brand promise of: “Food held to a higher standard. Our recipes are meticulously & intentionally crafted to provide both an incredible culinary experience while delivering powerful nutrition in every bite.”
To further dimensionalize the brand, I then crafted its tone of voice, website, and social media presence. I infused our obsession for delivering clean, delicious, plant-powered ingredients with incredible nutritional profiles into each digital touchpoint. I worked extensively with the culinary team to dive into the unique ingredients of each menu item, understanding the intention behind what went into crafting each individual bowl, from both a taste profile and nutritional perspective. The focus was on clearly communicating that we were making healthy eating accessible, easy, and truly satisfying. This prepared us for a multi-channel launch that would leverage informative content shared on social and amplified by paid media. This included developing our campaign mix, which would include paid and organic social, earned media, and influencer partnerships.
To execute the launch campaign, I communicated my vision to agency partners and the wider team, guiding cross-functional efforts across multiple departments to ensure brand consistency. I was deeply involved in every aspect of the brand, from initial marketing campaigns to future menu item development.
The Results
Vegan Bowls For All launched successfully on August 11, 2022. All 29 locations in California, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Washington went live simultaneously across four digital storefronts on UberEats, Postmates, DoorDash, and Grubhub. It was internally celebrated as “the smoothest launch in company history.”
With a total time to market of just 52 days, the brand hit the ground running, generating net new revenue averaging out to $1,500/store/week. By end of month, that number grew to over $2,000.
