CASE STORY • BRAND STRATEGY + CREATIVE
Renée's
Discovering the Brand Hidden Inside the Business
When I began working with Renée’s in 2020, it was a small-town chocolatier with a growing popcorn business and two separate brand identities. Today, Renée’s is known primarily for its gourmet popcorn, selling nationally on Amazon and developing a new idea of what it means to be a popcorn connoisseur.
I came in to help with marketing strategy. Over the years, my role grew to include brand positioning, packaging, advertising, website design, signage, collateral, video and ongoing creative work.
As Renée's grew, I helped identify opportunities, build on what was working, and focus the marketing around where the business was finding success.
THE CHALLENGE
Helping a growing business recognize what was working and where to focus next.
WHAT I BROUGHT
Strategy, pattern recognition, brand positioning, and hands-on creative execution across customer touchpoints.
THE EVOLUTION
From separate chocolate and popcorn identities toward one Renée's brand, with gourmet popcorn emerging a the company's defining product.
THE WORK
Brand strategy • Positioning • Packaging
Advertising • Website • Collateral
Signage • Video
One company. Two identities
Renée's was presenting itself a Renée's Chocolates and Renée's Popcorn, as if it were two different companies. But the experience was the same across the two. It was one brand, Renée's.
I began encouraging the client to focus on that single brand experience with multiple product lines rather than treating them as separate identities—an idea the business gradually embraced.
The role grew because the work grew.
02 • GROWING ALONGSIDE THE BUSINESS
I came in primarily for strategy. As the business expanded, so did my involvement — into packaging, labels, signage, advertising, website design, video, logo refinement and ongoing brand development.
03 • LOOKING BEYOND THE NEXT CAMPAIGN
Popcorn was becoming the business.
As popcorn gained traction, Renée’s began reaching customers well beyond its local roots. We kept the focus on what had always set the company apart: quality ingredients, freshness and a product made for people who care about what they eat.
That thinking eventually led to the idea of the popcorn connoisseur—treating popcorn with the same appreciation people bring to coffee, wine or chocolate.
04 • LETTING THE PRODUCT SPEAK
If it looks good, show it.
lear packaging had always been part of Renée’s philosophy. You could see the chocolates. You could see the popcorn. My job was to make the design around the product communicate the same quality.
That meant labels for the popcorn line and packaging such as the Golf Balls and Hot Chocolate Bomb boxes, designed with windows that kept the product visible.
05 • SWEET TALK
Turning radio into content.
A local radio partnership became more than an on-air appearance. We recorded the conversations on two phones, and I edited the footage into videos for YouTube and social media.
The paid radio segment eventually ended. The content lived on.
06 • MARKETING IS THE ENTIRE EXPERIENCE
The product has to keep the promise.
Renée’s paid attention to what customers told them. When Amazon reviews said one flavor was too salty, the recipe changed—and customers received complimentary replacement bags.
The company also resisted warehousing product for faster fulfillment when it would compromise freshness.
Those decisions shape what customers believe about a brand just as surely as an ad does.
07 • LOOKING BACK
The business found its focus
Renée’s grew from a small-town chocolatier with a growing popcorn line into a gourmet popcorn company selling nationally on Amazon.
That evolution belongs to the whole Renée’s team. I’m proud to have been there along the way—helping recognize opportunities, build on what was working, and create the marketing that supported where the business was going.
Creative Contributions
Strategy
• Brand strategy
• Marketing strategy
• Product positioning
• Customer journey planning
• Ongoing strategic consulting
Results
• Helped Renée’s evolve from separate chocolate and popcorn identities toward one cohesive specialty food brand.
• Developed packaging and visual materials supporting the company’s premium, quality-first positioning.
• Helped shape the emerging popcorn-connoisseur positioning as the company expanded beyond its local roots.
• Produced marketing assets, including Sweet Talk videos, that continued delivering value beyond their original campaigns.
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Brand Development
• Unified brand architecture
• Packaging strategy & design
• Logo Improvements
• Customer journey planning
• Ongoing strategic consulting
Design
• Packaging
• Rack cards & collateral
• Signage
• Website design
• Digital graphics
Content & Media
• Social media
• Video editing & production
• YouTube management
• Creative direction
• Photography direction