Where once Yves was a singular player in a niche category, plant-based products and meatless alternatives have since then become all the rage. The explosion in consumer interest has brought many competitors to the landscape. Consumers don’t even recognize, the difference between all the options now on the market.
The Yves social content we developed was a means of creating a connection based on our ability to help cut through the clutter and make good choices simple. Most players in the space are using social media in the same way – offering ideas for simple ‘assemble’ or ‘swap’ usage for their products balanced with more involved recipes. Our platform “Yves Knows Plant Power” concept helps consumers understand why all ‘plant-based’ is not equal.
Project
Yves Social Strategy 2019-2020
Client
Yves Veggie Cuisine
What I Did
Ideation, Concept Creation, Art Directed Video & Design, Social Design, GIF Development, Pre-pro & Photoshoots, Strategy Planning
Who are we talking to,
and why do they care?
In order to become successful, we had to understand our audience. We did extensive research and looked at the current Yves community to understand its current climate. We found that a lot of people were considered millennials or just starting young families and interested in healthier eating habits. Some were long time vegetarians or flexitarians, which primarily eats a vegetarian diet but occasionally eats meat or fish.
Existing customers wanted a variety of products and options they don’t necessarily know exist in the plant-based food category space. Yves has been the longest running plant-based brand out. Part of our goal was to educate new and longtime customers as well as help people incorporate plant-based food into their diet without sacrificing their current diets.
Through this research, we were able to
come up with key pillars we would focus
our content on.
It’s Better For You
Create series of posts that share the health benefits of plant-based eating, including:
- Explaining the immediate benefits of including more plant-based foods in your diet.
- Compare plant-based proteins and explain which ones we choose to include in our products and why.
- Compare and contrast nutrition, such as the difference of meat vs veggie options (meatballs vs veggie meatballs, hot dogs vs veggie dogs, tacos vs veggie tacos).
- Share snack ideas that focus on protein for better health. These could be centered around post-physical activity pick-me-ups like many of Yves snack based options.
Yves Leadership
Help drive trust by sharing knowledge that can only come with 30 years’ experience, such as:
- Create throwback posts that compare Yves’ lineup when the company first started in 1985 to what’s in store today.
- Leverage the active community of comments in existing social feeds and answer questions directly from customers on Yves social pages.
- Leverage Yves long-time standing in the plant-based category to compare and contrast how Yves products have changed over time, but also to show how we stay on top of research and eating habits.
Food Appeal
We up the ante on taste appeal with modern, varied recipes that look as good as they taste, including:
- Inspire consumption with top-down photography or 3/4 view of recipe ingredients.
- Create a series of posts that celebrate what’s in season at local farmer’s markets and grocery stores, while we share pairing ideas with Yves meals.
- #MeatlessMonday posts as Yves’ time to shine and share recipes that are seasonally appropriate.
- Encourage viewers to enjoy plant-based meals their own way, like a burger or taco dressed different ways.
- Focus on new Yves recipes through simple healthy ingredients that are easy to use and make tasty meals at home that the whole family will love.
High Quality Design
Per month, we would create 10 posts in total, which could consist of static, GIFs, or Animated content. Each post would have two design options and copy alternatives.
Animated Videos & GIFs
We would use a partnering company to create unique mobile friendly animated videos for Yves. We would storyboard 1 or 2 per month before choosing one to move forward with. We would use Photoshop to create fun simple GIFs when possible.
Uniform Look & Feel
When designing all the Yves social content, we had to make sure that each post could stand out within the clutter, but also work as a cohesive whole, using the same colours, styles, and feel for each post.
Working with Yves Veggie
Cuisine to develop new
recipe photography.
Yves came to us with a task to develop and show our target the versatility and taste appeal of Yves Veggie Cuisine products with a selection of recipes that offer health benefits while still being delicious and easy to create.
With 12 new recipes to develop for the Yves Veggie website and social channels, it was up to our team to elevate Yves distinct style of photography, while making the food mouth-watering. These recipes would then be boosted across multiple media channels such as Pinterest recipes, social, online and print.
Shooting Views
The photography was shot at either 3/4 view or top-down view; the angle was determined based on how well it showcases the finished recipe.
Shooting Frame
Each recipe set-up will accommodate a 16×9 and 4×5 format with the focus being on a vertical format. Knowing we will be using these photos on Yves social platforms, we want to shoot for mobile first.
Presentation & Plating
Our focus was on creating imagery that feels like a slice of real life—simplicity in plating allow for this contemporary, fresh approach that retains high appetite appeal. Dishes were set up to be perfectly imperfect: crumbs, misplaced herbs and little drips of sauce were all ways to achieve this. Lighting was as natural as possible to ensure an authentic, fresh sense of plant-powered eating for all.
Props Inspiration
To bring the simple, clean palette to life, we used linens, cutlery, plates and platters. Natural materials in neutral colours added warmth to the white plates and backgrounds, while white plates ensured the food remains the star.
Pre-Pro Delivery
All this information and more was developed and presented to client prior to our shoot days for sign-off.
Time Efficient in Studio
Spanning 2 days in studio, 8 hours each day, we were able to effectively finish 6 recipes per day with client sign-off and their blessing.
