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Our Collective Vision
In 2014, we booked our first date with Tofurky. As a team of four at that time, we were beaming (and sweating!) through our first conversation in Hood River, Oregon. Seth (Founder of Tofurky) lightened the mood with his quirky stories and joyful grin. He is the definition of a down-to-earth, no-bullshit human who is guided, uncompromisingly, by his huge heart. Erin (Marketing Director) made sure to bring the tough questions: data to back our recommendations, proof of performance in the industry, and every idea returning to ROI. With their fast growth and strong values, Tofurky needed to find, not just any recipe creation agency, but a team equally driven by both purpose and performance. Spoiler Alert! We got the gig.
The Scoop
Setting The Table
In that very first meeting, Tofurky laid out their monumental challenge: How can they evolve to stay relevant (better connecting with younger generations) while also staying true to their roots (not losing touch with their loyal early adopters)? How do they change, without changing? Tofurky looked to us to see if we had the heart (+ creativity + brains + stamina) to lean in and take it on together. Hell yes, we did. So we all rolled up our sleeves and began brainstorming a strategic, innovative vision for Tofurky’s brand (r)evolution.
Our focus began with defining a bold visual brand identity that would resonate with a diverse, younger audience. Then we tackled our favorite part–the foooooood. This called for a radical shift in recipe development, as we set out to crush the stigma around vegan food being bland, unfilling, and only for yogis. And finally, we needed to tie it together with inclusive, unapologetic copywriting that connects people around more than just food labels to promote more GOOD: for people, for animals, and for our planet.
The Experience
As an innovative Creative Content Agency, it is our job to create forward-thinking culinary and art direction that pushes our clients to stand out and stay a step ahead. So it’s not unusual for clients to show some initial hesitancy and even attempt to reign us in, hoping to land on a broader (blander) appeal. NOT Tofurky. In fact, they pushed us even further: “Nope, gooeyer. Drippier. Messier. Stacked higher. MORE, PLEASE.” Coming right up! Our recipe creation and photo shoots became bright, playful, imperfect, and tasty AF. Tofurky’s reclaiming of “vegan” was not going to settle for simply overcoming the notion of plant based foods being compromising, sacrificing, or limiting our pleasure. They were ready for us to show the world that vegan can be about abundance, indulgence, comfort, and total satisfaction. Their fans and the media couldn’t get enough–Tofurky was popping up everywhere, featuring our drooly creations (VegNews, Forbes, The New Yorker, VegWorld Magazine, Plant Based News, Food Business News, Good Housekeeping, and more)! Vegan never looked so good.
The Fruits of Our Labor
At nearly 100k Instagram followers today, Tofurky has experienced remarkable growth and engagement across their social media platforms and significantly higher traffic to their website (recipes being among their most popular pages) since our partnership began seven years ago. Our success stories together include: developing about 150 original recipes, styling and producing over 1500 food photos (including product photography to be featured on their packaging as well as recipe video production), expanding recipe development and creative direction for their UK audience, writing seo-optimized blog content, partnering on strategic brand affiliations with B Corps, collaborating on R&D for a limited-edition seasonal product, leading tasting & trends tours throughout Portland to inspire new flavor and food product development, providing restaurant menu development recommendations, conducting nutrition analysis for recipe development, directing a social media marketing bootcamp, and even facilitating spirited team building days with a fun food competition. We can’t wait to see what the next years bring!
“Heart Creative has been a standout performer for us. We’ve used other recipe and design companies but Heart’s combination of artistic culinary talent, photo/video skills, and on-time communications make them head and shoulders above the rest.”
Seth Tibbott
Chairman & Founder
