How to Choose a Food Branding Agency: Look Past the Style

A while back, I was talking with a company that needed an agency partner for a big rebrand. We were up against one other agency for the project. (Spoiler: they became a client.) Along the way, they told me what they liked about the other agency, and it’s stuck with me ever since.

Choose a food branding agency for its strategy, its results, and how well it knows your category, not for a portfolio that already looks like the brand you have in mind. A consistent “house style” should be a warning sign, because your brand needs to stand apart from your competitors, not blend in with the agency’s other clients. Look for case studies that explain each client’s business problem and what the work did to solve it.

Competing for work is totally fine, by the way. We’re very confident in what we do, and we often welcome a client shopping around, because it tends to strengthen our position. If a client ultimately decides another agency is a better fit, we understand. Decision-makers have to do what’s best for their business, and we absolutely respect that.

What I often find flawed is the criteria companies use to decide whether an agency is a fit.

Why Is a Signature Agency Style a Red Flag?

I get it. If you’re looking for branding help, you need to see some work to judge whether an agency is capable and aligned with you.

This client mentioned that the other agency had a distinct style. Everything in their portfolio looked similar, with a specific look and feel. Some people see that as a benefit: you know what you’re going to get, and if their aesthetic matches yours, great. To me, it’s a major red flag.

We’re in the business of storytelling and differentiation. Our job is to take the core things that set your brand apart, give them value, and use them strategically to position your brand for success in your market and with your customer. In the food space, that often means standing out on the shelf with packaging or on the web. But it also means making meaningful, emotional connections with your specific audience at every touchpoint, so they become brand advocates.

A huge consideration is your competition. How do you stand out among them?

Let’s pretend you sell beer. It’s an incredibly competitive space, and you have to grab your customer’s attention in a dizzying sea of attractive options on the shelf. Say you find an agency that’s done a ton of beer work. Their execution is stellar, but a lot of it looks similar. Is that really the agency you want? Do you really want to look like a spin-off of everybody else?

Quality execution is great. But it’s the foundational brand strategy, and how it’s used to set you apart in your space, that matters most… isn’t it?

Why Won’t You See Your Brand in an Agency’s Portfolio?

As the Chief Creative Officer of an agency, I place tremendous value on not having an agency style. We see each brand as an opportunity to do what’s right for that specific business, not to pad our portfolio with award-winning designs (though we certainly appreciate getting recognized for our work!).

If our branding process shows that a certain illustration style, copy voice, or photography approach is right for you, our business is built to bring in the right resources to execute that vision, even if it’s not something we’re perfectly equipped for internally. We recognize opportunities and build brands that work for the client.

That creates a challenge when you’re using our past work to judge whether we’re a fit. Because each project was built around that client’s needs, you probably won’t find a style that matches your vision. And that makes sense, because your new brand hasn’t been created yet. We haven’t gone through the process to determine its look, feel, and personality. We haven’t researched your competitive space to understand who we’re differentiating against. We haven’t defined your audience or figured out what motivates them.

What Should You Look for Instead?

Dig into an agency’s case studies. Look at the business challenges each client faced, and how the solutions that came out of the agency’s process positioned them for success in their market, against their competition, and with their audience.

In other words, it’s smarter to judge a creative firm by how successful its work is than to be drawn in by pretty pictures that may or may not align with your needs.

Should Your Branding Agency Ever Push Back on You?

Yes. You might even want an agency that challenges your ideas now and then.

You may think you want a particular style, but I’m not afraid to tell you when I think we can do something better. I’ll tell you why, and it will be backed by strategy. You can, of course, choose to ignore my recommendation, and we’ll be happy to develop the brand as you see fit. But the goal should never be to look a certain way or to mimic something else.

Our primary objective with any branding or rebranding engagement is to find the best possible way to position your brand for success. We go where the evidence and our intuition lead us creatively to develop something truly novel. Sometimes that process ends up close to your initial vision, and sometimes it doesn’t. For companies in business to make money (which describes most companies), being flexible and open is what leads to the strongest, most differentiated brands, and to meaningful growth.

Why Does Food and Beverage Expertise Matter So Much?

The last, and most important, point: focus matters. Our expertise in food and beverage runs incredibly deep. I’m very confident you won’t find another branding agency that knows more about your business than we do. Sure, another agency might have some food work in its portfolio, and it might look great. But do they truly know the challenges you face?

• Do they know what a retail buyer is going to look for?
• Can they connect you with a food scientist to help reformulate a struggling flavor?
• Can they recommend a co-packer (the manufacturer that produces your product under contract) when yours just went out of business?
• Do they know the best food brokers (the sales reps who pitch your products to retailers) to help get you on the right shelves?

These are the things that matter.

What to Do Next

If you’re comparing agencies for a launch or a rebrand, here’s where I’d start:

1. Ask for case studies, not just a gallery. Look for the business problem, the strategy behind the work, and what happened after launch.
2. Be wary of a portfolio where everything looks alike. If their clients all look the same, there’s a good chance you will, too.
3. Ask how they’ll study your competition and your customer before any design work starts.
4. Test their category knowledge. Ask about buyers, brokers, co-packers, and the channels you’re targeting.
5. Notice whether they’ll push back. An agency that only says yes isn’t giving you strategy.
6. Don’t write anyone off for lacking an exact comp. Whether you sell beer, fresh fruit, cannabis products, or canned fish, a strong strategic process carries over.

And if you’re still pre-launch and tempted to keep branding to a minimum, here’s why branding is critical to your food brand’s MVP launch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to talk to more than one branding agency?

Absolutely. We welcome it. Comparing agencies helps you understand what you’re really buying, and a confident agency won’t mind the competition.

Do I need an agency that’s worked in my exact product category?

Not necessarily. Deep food and beverage expertise matters more than an exact comp. The strategies that work across food brands carry over, and your brand should look different from anything the agency has done before.

What if I already know the style I want?

Share it. A good agency will take it seriously, and will tell you, with reasons, if the strategy points somewhere better. The final call is still yours.

Look Past the Sparkly Stuff

When you’re choosing a new agency partner, don’t get distracted by the sparkly things on the surface. Take the time to dig deeper and make sure the agency will bring real value to your business.

If you work with us, your new brand will look different from what we’ve created for other clients, and it should. We’ll make sure it reflects the qualities that make your business and products desirable, in a distinct, ownable, differentiated way that positions you for success. Weighing agencies for a launch or a rebrand? See how our process works and what to expect when you partner with us. Then give us a shot, and let’s chat.