Are you an entrepreneur trying to find an agency you can trust to build the brand you envision while also truly caring about what you say and what you believe?
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From Stovetops to Store Shelves
How A Trusting Client Relationship Can Impact The Overall Success Of A Brand
Over a century-old recipe with flavors derived from a mix of vibrant cultures, Sam’s Famous Salsa has unveiled its modern take on a family favorite. With a combination of traditional Latin and Native American ingredients, this salsa will now be hitting the shelves of hundreds of well-known grocery and retail stores for the first time. Sam Derr, the creator of Sam’s Famous Salsa and Owner/President of Elite Superior Foods, is a trained chef that has been perfecting his salsa recipe for the past 20 years. With his dedication to delivering an honest and high-quality product, his brand is bound to make a statement in the food manufacturing industry.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Getting it right from the start
In a highly competitive industry such as food manufacturing, it’s no surprise that new businesses will feel the pressure from this competitive, saturated market. In fact, about fifty of the largest food companies are responsible for over half of the industry’s revenue. As a business, it is essential to not only stay on top of emerging technologies but develop a more popular product and ensure that the processes put in place are efficient and up-to-date.
Sam’s Famous Salsa knew it was necessary to differentiate from the competition whether that came from branding, packaging, price-points, or more innovative methods like the UX/UI experience for customers. With the shift in consumer demands from processed foods to healthier options, manufacturers such as Sam now had the opportunity to spice up and tailor his brand and products to fulfill these desired needs.
Client Type
Startup
Headquarters
Naperville, IL
Solutions
Strategy, Experience, Development
Services
Workshops, User Experience, Branding, User Interface, Visual Media, Content, Web Design, CMS
Raw collaboration at it’s finest.
With a trust already instilled between Sam’s and LLT Group from previous discussions, Sam knew that LLT was a reliable choice when it came to bringing his story to life. Many conversations took place around the topic of how LLT engages with brands from a strategic and creative output to ultimately how quickly and effectively they could execute on the deliverables. Working with Sam, LLT wanted to learn and understand the overall vision and get to the core of why he wanted to share his work with the rest of the world. This raw collaboration allowed for a nostalgic and natural working environment within the partnership, creating a mutual understanding that drove an effective and synergistic creative process.
Storytelling that actually resonates with you.
Through a strategic combination of discovery workshops and face-to-face meetings to understanding the overall cultivation of this brand, LLT wanted to tie all of the aspects of Sam’s unique story into one cohesive experience. The conversations revolving around creativity, culture and community set the tone for the exploration to come; not only to identify where Sam was, but how LLT could get Sam to where he wanted to be. To truly understand how a family recipe could be transformed into a physical product was a driving force behind how this message could be a core factor in creating experiences in consumers’ lives. In order for Sam to position himself in a crowded market and stand out as a unique, exciting brand, his brand and messaging needed to portray a product that would resonate with consumers who value the importance of the conversations and memories made at a family table. LLT took up the job of becoming the storyteller to clearly portray the honest history and journey of Sam’s Famous Salsa for the future of the brand.
THE APPROACH
Taking the vision from paper to product.
After finalizing his hand-crafted salsa recipe, he was now in need of a cohesive, harmonious brand that exemplified the values and history that were ingrained in the formation of the company. Sam’s Salsa came to LLT ready to collaborate and trust their process and experience with both driving the exploration of his journey and also bringing it to life. The primary goal was to design, create, and roll-out a unique brand strategy that would engage and stand-out to consumers. This included everything from all digital and physical product touchpoints, market positioning in both the retail and warehouse distribution channels, and driving social media interaction and engagement. As a company that thrives on collaboration, Sam brought his knowledge to the table but also trusted the expertise of the LLT team to steer this project in the right direction. The give and take throughout the process allowed for a rare synergy to be born and used to challenge and push the possibilities.
“At the end of the day, this wasn’t just another project for him. He really gave us the respect of his time and the commitment of his expertise throughout the entire journey… never once missing a meeting or missing a milestone or settling. He questioned us and challenged us and with that trust, we both gained a lot of respect and our entire team gained a lot of respect for Sam. Likewise, I know that Sam gave a tremendous amount of respect for our experts that we had driving this project.”
A unique identity for a unique salsa.
With no previous branding, Sam’s Famous Salsa was a unique project which made the conversations and workshops we had with Sam so significant to successfully define the strategy moving forward. The continuous face-to-face collaborative process in stride with the growing excitement from both teams drove the creative team to new levels of research and designs for Sam’s Famous Salsa.
The LLT team invested considerable time and resources when it came to researching and understanding both the salsa and overall food industry. They paid careful attention to the patterns and trends seen across the board from other competitors to ensure they were presenting a strategy that positioned Sam’s Salsa as an innovator and leader rather than another empty voice in an oversaturated industry. The LLT team wanted to learn from what others were doing successfully and not just continuing a status quo that consumers were jaded with, but pushing both the brand and the messaging to new, exciting, and engaging levels.
THE RESULTS
It doesn’t end here.
As Sam’s Famous Salsa continues to expand and grows, both companies have identified numerous, exciting opportunities that encouraged them to continue the partnership. After completing and delivering a foundation of the branding components on-time and surpassing initial expectations, Sam initiated a new phase of work with LLT and commissioned them to create tradeshow pieces, pitch decks for future investors to other retail markets, and additional marketing initiatives.
“The partnership doesn’t get stronger than this great example of what we’ve built with Sam’s Famous Salsa. We’ve become a value-added extension of that brand and it’s something that we really take a high-level of investment in with our time and recommendations.“— Rahul Wahi, CEO at LLT Group
Together, we can create great things. As a digital agency, one of the most fulfilling aspects is knowing that the positive relationship built between partners is apparent from both sides. The experience of working with Sam’s Famous Salsa is one that we hope for from every client we come in contact with. From communication to collaboration to final results, the ultimate reward when it comes to what we do is to surpass all expectations.
“Elite Superior Foods’ working relationship with LLT Group has been the best experience in my professional career. Rahul Wahi and his team have all been professional, courteous and always willing to go the extra mile,” “Any company looking to have a marketing company deliver the entire package with amazingly impressive results, need to work with LLT Group.”