The Curators: Breaking out of functional snacking & competing for share of stomach
CASE STUDY
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Services provided
Consumer Insight
Brand Strategy
Messaging & Positioning
Agency Tender
Project Management
The challenge
A brand stuck in the middle
The Curators had built a portfolio of bold, high-protein, savoury snacks—but they weren’t positioned to win.
🥩 Too ‘protein-heavy’ for mainstream snackers – The brand looked functional and macho, alienating taste-led snackers.
🍿 Too bland for the crisp aisle – Packaging blended in with other protein snacks but lacked the crave-factor to compete with crisps.
👀 Consumers liked the idea, but weren’t picking it up – Awareness was growing, but trial was low.
They needed to own their lane combining big flavour + big protein in a way that actually resonated with snacker
The fix
Data-driven brand strategy that landed
We dug deep into the audience, market, and product perception—and the insights were game-changing:
🔎 Deep-Dive Customer Research
Surveyed 8,000+ existing customers and found:
✅ Not gym bros, not diet-obsessed. The real audience was Macro Monitors—people who want high protein without sacrificing flavour.
✅ The Curators looked too functional. It needed to feel like a snack people actually crave.
🌍 Market & Competitor Analysis
A 1,000-person national survey confirmed:
✅ Taste beats protein for driving repeat purchases.
✅ No one was owning big flavour + big protein. This was The Curators’ space to own.
🎙 Customer Interviews
10+ deep-dive sessions uncovered:
✅ Packaging and name confusion were blocking trial. The brand had strong equity, but execution was off. The fix? Evolve the look, don’t change the name.
📦 Packaging & Brand Execution
We managed the agency tender, ensuring the new design:
✅ Put flavour front and centre
✅ Kept protein clear, but secondary
✅ Looked premium, modern & desirable
🚀 New Brand Proposition
Supercharged Savoury Snacking – Big Flavour. Big Protein. Zero Compromise.
The impact
A brand ready to win
📈 Stronger positioning to compete with mainstream snacks, not just functional food.
🔥 Packaging now commands attention in-store, breaking out of the protein shelf.
💡 Messaging speaks to taste-led snackers while keeping functional benefits clear.
🎤 What The Curators had to say:
"Brand Hackers helped us sharpen our positioning so we could finally compete in the snack aisle—not just in functional food."
Why it matters
Guessing doesn't build great brands - Strategy does
Most brands tweak a bit of messaging and hope for the best. We don’t do that. We engineered The Curators’ transformation, making sure every move was backed by real consumer behaviour.