NEW PRODUCT POSITIONING AND DEVELOPMENT

IT’S NOT JUST A NAME, IT’S A CALL TO ACTION

It’s no surprise the U.S. backyard (chicken) flock category has grown over 6% in urban and suburban geographies. As an established leader in feed, Purina Animal Nutrition estimates up to 5% of U.S. households have backyard chickens, and the average flock hosts 12-14 “girls.” The yard-to-table movement is clearly booming, but challenges exist: Flock feed is quite hard to find in urban retail, and urban folks prefer “smaller batch,” non-GMO, organic brands—attributes Purina would struggle to overcome.

Objective: Leverage our feed expertise to capture a market that's suspicious of existing “traditional” brands. And do it quickly, please.

Solution: Create a brand of totally organic, non-GMO, super simple chicken feed for a digital-first, social-first urban flock owner.

I played several roles in this effort: I worked alongside our consumer insights and product strategy teams to refine the initial business assignment; then I curated and facilitated ideation sessions with a pool of flock feed enthusiasts, designers and copywriters. Out of those sessions, I collaborated with our strategy and legal teams to refine initial naming categories. Then I worked with Land O’Lakes’ in-house packaging team to bring on Acre Design and copywriter Charles K Youel, who brought the Hen Up idea to life.

The entire endeavor, from initial conversations to packaging in-market took less than nine months. Hen Up is available now on Amazon, Chewy and ag retailers cross the U.S.