Popchips gets new look as part of brand overhaul

Popchips is reviving old design elements as part of a brand overhaul that is arriving in time for the busy summer snack season. The brand's new black packaging will feature larger, more textured food photography and bring the brand’s “Never Fried. Always Real” tagline to the forefront of each bag. The black bag is a throwback to the snack’s original packaging from 2007 when Popchips first introduced consumers to a new category of chip that was neither baked nor fried. “Popchips was the only packaging that was black with bright colors on it," said Michael Campi, VP of marketing for Velocity Snack Brands, the parent company of Popchips. “We felt like that was a very important thing to bring back. All these things really come together and make this brand distinct versus the rest of the category.” The redesign, which was headed by Hatch, builds on the brand’s energetic personality. “The new design really accentuates what the consumers told us they know and love about the brand and [the packaging] brings those to life in a very bold and confident way,” Campi said. “We really felt like it exemplified the energy and pop behind the brand.” The refresh comes as the snack marketer tries to distinguish itself in an increasingly crowded field of better-for-you snacks. This isn’t the first time Popchips has switched up its strategy to increase sales. In 2014, it scrapped its celebrity-first ad strategy and adopted a more product-focused approach to appeal to a wider range of consumers as it began to face competition from popular snack brands like Wheat Thins. Don’t miss the latest news. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters here. Campi says Popchips executives are now pursuing a data-driven strategy to promote the brand. It will lean on digital and in-store advertising, with a special emphasis on streaming-video advertising and digital banners. The brand will also launch a new product website. “We’ve gotten to a point where we are being much more data-driven in our marketing decisions, so we’re looking at things that are measurable, things we can get data back on quickly so we can optimize and make decisions for the brand's health in the future,” said Campi. In addition to the rebranding, Popchips has partnered with Kroger to release two new flavors—Fully Loaded and Fiery Buffalo.

Popchips gets new look as part of brand overhaul

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