Shamrock Farms is preparing to debut new branding and packaging for its milk-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) protein beverages and cold brew coffees, bringing both lines under an updated masterbrand ahead of further expansion into national distribution and sales in 2018.
As part of the revamp which was led by design firm Flood Creative, the Rockin’ Refuel protein drink line will be renamed Rockin’ Protein. The new packaging, which will debut next spring, features “Rockin’ Protein” in large bold letters, as well as a callout to the 30g of protein in each bottle and imagery representing the various flavors, such as chocolate chunks for the chocolate variety.
Shamrock Farms’ rebrand of Rockin’ Protein and its cold brew line underscores the Phoenix, Ariz.-based company’s intent to capture a larger share of the dairy-based RTD market, according to chief marketing officer Ann Ocana.
“We want to be the emerging beverage company that takes milk-based trends mainstream,” she said. “Milk provides us with two really critical opportunities: a strong nutrient package and taste proposition. What we needed was to be packaged, positioned and marketed in a much more relevant way.”
The brand’s current bottle, which has been in use for 15 years, will be replaced by a new 12 oz. PET format with a more curved shape, giving the product a “contemporary design that we feel we can have some ownership with,” said Ocana. Meanwhile, the upper bottle and cap showcases Shamrock Farms’ new logo against a green background, a stylistic choice that presents the product on-shelf as a “fresh, tasty milk-based protein beverage,” according to Ocana.
“Consumers are so stimulated visually on what they buy these days,” she said, referring to on-shelf presentation as the “creative battleground” for brands working in the RTD space. “I think about Instagram and how visual everybody is. We learned quickly that our bottle said milk, which was good, but it could work even harder to say ‘milk beverage.’”
Ahead of the 2018 rollout for the new packaging, Shamrock Farms is releasing a limited edition bottle in December highlighting the company’s partnership with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team. The company signed a three-year sponsorship agreement to be the official milk beverage of the team in 2016.
“2018 is a big year for U.S. Ski and Snowboard so we wanted to make sure we were celebrating and honoring them in the right way,” Ocana said, noting that the limited edition bottle would act a transition to the rebrand, which will arrive this spring.
To support the Rockin’ Protein rebrand, Ocana said Shamrock recently partnered with mobile camera company GoPro to produce a promotional video that features U.S. Ski and Snowboard team members Ashley Caldwell and Ted Ligety alongside the brand’s other sponsored athletes, NFL players A.J. Green and David Johnson.