Verdes rebrands 'functional food' company Gem to emphasise its 'kaleidoscopic health' approach

Verdes – a research, strategy and innovations consultancy born out of Mother New York – worked on a new brand and communications strategy, as well as the new look and feel across the website, packaging and social touchpoints. The designs look to emphasise Gem's "kaleidoscopic health" approach, in that the products treat the "whole body as an interconnected system".

According to the consultancy, the branding reflects research that found consumers "desire companies as expert resources of information rather than lifestyle purveyors". As such, the designs were inspired largely by Wikipedia and National Geographic, held up as exemplary in housing "educational and informational" content in ways that both look great, and entertain.

"Wellness is a 4.9 trillion dollar industry that continues to grow year on year," says Verdes' founding partner Greg Matson. "It's also unregulated. This landscape has provided a tremendous growth opportunity for new brands in the already crowded category and finds them making all sorts of promises that can't be substantiated. Frankly, consumers are on to it. Instead of following the typical DTC lifestyle brand playbook, we helped transform Gem into a new type of brand – a resource brand – providing curious consumers with information as aspiration."