Start with delight, done in no time’s sight.

What can we find at the intersection of modernity and tradition? High-quality ready meals in a bag. At first, this phrase seemed rather strange to us, but after a while it became the mantra of our collaboration with our client EXPRES MENU and influenced every decision we made.

EXPRES MENU is a family business from the Krkonoše Mountains that prides itself on high-quality ingredients with verified origins and no chemicals. They even buy their smoked meats from local butchers! Skilled chefs then cook the ingredients and pack them in bags, where the food can last up to 10 years thanks to a patented process. We hit it off with the client right from our first communication—the essence of the EXPRES MENU brand is technological innovation in the packaging of ready-made meals without compromising traditional honesty. We entered the tender with this duality and practically shook hands immediately; this was exactly what the client was looking for. We won a solid client who has ambitions to break into the European market with a Czech product without compromising on taste.

 

Expres brand, yum!

First, we got to work on a complete brand manual, with everything included. We wanted everything to be based on key principles close to the client’s heart. After all, a traditional brand can’t “be free bro,” so we introduced a new, fun, and slightly informal, yet premium communication style.

We defined a lot at this stage. EXPRES MENU can boast:

• New colors and codes for online and offline reproduction
• A logo with a flag variant
• Several font styles
• A layout sketch for print visuals
• The Expresáček mascot
• The slogan “Get stuck in, it’ll be done in no time.”
• Even the design of digital buttons

A great detail of the visual identity is the embossed element. It works in two ways – it teases the impression of a torn edge, which remains with everyone who opens an EXPRES MENU bag, and at the same time combines the Krkonoše panorama that the client sees directly from the window. EXPRES MENU thus casually shares its origins with customers through this element.

We are #real on social media

EXPRES MENU doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not, and why should it? That’s why we wanted to maintain authenticity in our digital communication as well. We avoid clichés and poses. It wouldn’t be original content if the photos came from a photo bank. That’s why we organized photo shoots for selected periods with the aim of capturing the naturalness of families with children at lunch. Posts on social media are like a gastronomic caress. Followers can easily identify with the content.

We maintained the same style in advertising campaigns designed to strengthen brand awareness. Together with the client, we created a clearly defined procedure for creating content for PPC, i.e., what the image carrier should look like and how to maintain the brand even in the click-through button (it all fits together now, right?).

BTL? Start with delight, done in no time’s sight.

Before the tender, 14% of the population knew about EXPRES MENU. We set ourselves a clear goal: to increase that number to 33%. As we mentioned above, we mainly used below-the-line (BTL) activities to achieve this. These include sales support, both online and offline, without mass communication as is the case with ATL activities.

We created countless graphics, so it’s a wonder we don’t see bags everywhere today. From the offline world alone, the client received graphics for OOH, flyers, shelf signs in stores, cardboard stands, merchandise, stickers… In short, everywhere you look. The main thing was to express the speed and high quality of the EXPRESS MENU, so the communication carried our slogan, “Dig in, it’s ready in no time.” In addition, we prepared and have been managing a newsletter, as well as a blog, social media profiles, and an influencer program. Almost every output hides four times as much work—in addition to the Czech market, we also prepare content for the Slovak, German, and Polish markets. And there was a lot of marketing work to do!

EXPRES MENU was thrilled. Together, we found effective ways to communicate across a range of channels that combine traditional food with a modern concept. Simply put, the boundary between modernity and tradition.

We are delighted with our collaboration with EverWhere! When you stop for a moment and look back at what we have achieved in the first year and a half of our collaboration, you can’t help but take your hat off to them. Establishing a unified brand identity and communication seemed like a very difficult nut to crack at the beginning. However, the entire EverWhere team took on this challenge with tremendous enthusiasm, thanks to which they managed to define and unify the entire face and communication of our brand across all channels, despite our endless comments :-). Now all that remains is to dive into new projects and reap the rewards of our hard work. Just follow our new mantra: Get stuck in, and it’ll be done in no time.

Jan Štěpánský Brand manager EXPRES MENU

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