Hippeas came from nowhere to WH Smiths across the UK and every Starbucks counter in the US. A lot of that success was down to a brand that stood out from the (snacks and crisps) pack. When Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR) came to us, the brand was well on its way. The client had a product: chickpea puffs. And a name: Hippeas. They’d got a design: you can spot that sunshine-yellow packet a mile off. But they were getting a bit stuck with the words: they couldn’t decide whether they were hippies (groovy, baby) or bringing about a revolution, comrade!

We told them to tone down the revolutionary language and take the hippies’ angle with a sprinkle of wordplay: give peas a chance; peas, love and giving back; we like, totally, love snacks… We showed them how, when and where to be playful with the words on Hippeas’ packaging and when to keep it straight. It meant they had a clear sense of what to do where and when, and how to do it. And we showed them how to do all that without running out of lines (which can easily happen when you’re posting on social every day).

And it’s fair to say it went, like, totally, well. Eighteen months on from their debut on both sides of the Atlantic, you’ll find Hippeas in 30,000 stores – and they’re growing. Creative Review summed it up nicely for us: ‘Hippeas’ tone of voice combines humour, optimism and a touch of political activism. A statement on the about section of its website[…]reads: “Let’s stand together: arms in the air, flowers in our hair and crumbs in our beards.”’

Since then we’ve been working with JKR and their client (who it turns out are serial entrepreneurs) on some other brands that will be taking over your supermarket shelves in the not-too-distant future. More news on those when we have it. Peace out.

WHAT WE DID.

+ Their tone of voice
+ Their on-pack copy
+ Summed up their brand

WHAT WE DIDN’T.

+ The identity and design: JKR did that.
+ All the words: we drafted in some help from Nick Parker too.