Sydney-based brand design agency Blue Marlin has recently created an entire new brand design for Schweppes, launching the client’s new beverage product Kokomo.Kokomo sits in a new FMCG category, with Schweppes being one of the first brands to manufacture and import coconut water direct from The Philippines to the Australian market, with the aim to capitalise on the beverage’s success overseas in countries including North and South America.

The challenge set to Blue Marlin was to create a new brand identity, brand strategy, guidelines and brand positioning for Kokomo that would highlight the distinct nutritious properties found in coconut water, which is not well documented in Australia.

“Our challenge was to create a new category that excites and captivates a jaded, over-marketed, well-traveled, worldly consumer who in all likelihood has no frame of reference for a product of this type,” says Blue Marlin managing director Marshall Ward.

“Through our insight, we found out that there’s a little bit of genius in lazy, laid back coconuts,” Ward adds. “Underneath the surface they’re hiding an untapped well of energy ready for all to use. And now we’re discovering what people of the tropics have known for ages…that these lazy, thick headed coconuts are actually nature’s genius handy-work.”

The strategic thinking that sets the overall brand and packaging design tone for Kokomo is, “Fuel of Nature”. The copywriting and typography aims to encourage a light and friendly approach to healthy, natural living. On the front of pack is the inclusion of motivational messaging such as: “100 Percent Natural, Coconut Water, Powered By Nature”.

The new product design introduces back-of-pack iconography to depict the drink’s energising, hydrating and nutritional values, with the ingredients – picked fresh from the loftiest palms of The Philippines—once a secret to the locals now available to the Australian consumer.

“Kokomo is the perfect interpretation of ‘nature-made energy’, it is true to the consumer proposition, unique and importantly has amazing shelf stand out in the cluttered beverage category,” adds Schweppes marketing manager Ellie Vince.