August 12, 2025 • 46 mins
Manischewitz is a beloved staple in any Jewish pantry. However, both the brand and the Kosher food market were on the decline. Can a rebrand not only lift them both back up, but rekindle joy and connection too? Lisa Smith, former Executive Creative Director at JKR, speaks to how she and her team did more than create snazzy new packaging, and instead offered a seat at the table.
To see the change of brand for yourself, visit achangeofbrand.com or follow us on Instagram @achangeofbrand.
Created by Matchstic (matchstic.com / @matchstic), hosted by Blake Howard (@blakehoward), co-hosted by Tracy Clark, edited and scored by ATAM Audio, brief-in by Dee Boyle, produced by Brianna Belcher, and artwork by Stephanie Kim and Michael Martino.
“Sergio's Magic Dustbin" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Blake Howard (00:00):
This episode of A Change of Brand is brought to
you by Standards, the no-codeplatform for building web-based
brand guidelines with totaldesign control.
Keep listening to learn more.
Hey, also, this podcast isproduced by Matchstick, the
brand identity house for leaderstaking bold steps towards a
radically relevant brand.
Lisa Smith (00:19):
kosher food category is in major decline because
more people are being lessstrict about the food and
looking beyond it and we want toinvite more people in.
We're going to have to dosomething pretty loud and brave
at this point.
Hey
Tracy Clark (00:35):
everyone, welcome to A Change of Brand, a show
featuring behind-the-scenesstories of rebrand glory, drama,
or disaster.
I'm your host, Tracy Clark.
Blake Howard (00:44):
And I'm your host, Blake Howard.
Tracy Clark (00:52):
Hey, Blake, how's it going?
Blake Howard (00:54):
Tracy, what's up?
Tracy Clark (00:55):
Yeah, you know, making it happen.
Now, I know you know about thisbrand story that I'm super
jazzed to talk about today, butI will say it's a doozy of a
brand name.
In fact, I'd go as far as tosay this name can be a little
intimidating.
Blake Howard (01:12):
Yes, I would say so.
And names that areintimidating...
They have a challenge becauseit feels a little exclusive at
times.
Like as an example, one of myfavorite bands, if you ever say
their name the wrong way, peoplesort of look at you funny.
And that is a little band thatgoes by Bon Iver.
(01:32):
But I will admit, when I say itproperly like that, Bon Iver, I
feel a little highfalutin.
And I just kind of want, likemy Middle Tennessee roots want
to just say Bon Iver, you know?
Oh,
Tracy Clark (01:44):
I definitely thought it was Bon Iver.
Blake Howard (01:46):
Yeah.
Tracy Clark (01:47):
And I probably said that in front of a ton of
people and embarrassed myself.
Bon Iver, hey, have you heardof the band?
Then I quickly learned that itwas the more highfalutin Bon
Iver.
Blake Howard (01:57):
Yeah.
So, you know, sometimes whennames are a little bit difficult
to say, if you don't say themright, you feel like an
outsider.
So I think there's definitelysome of that at play here.
Tracy Clark (02:06):
For sure.
And you and I are insiders,right, for this one because we
already were familiar with thebrand in order to prep for this
conversation and maybe in lifeas well, like we've seen it on
the shelves.
But others, not so lucky.
So, of course, of course, Iwanted to put people on the spot
and see if they could get thepronunciation right on their
own, unprompted.
(02:27):
So I decided to do a little,you know, roving reporter.
Or as you'll hear our guest,Lisa Smith, say...
She called it a Vox Pop, whichI love.
Blake Howard (02:37):
Amazing.
Tracy Clark (02:38):
I know, right?
So anyway, yeah, I asked ahandful of people we know how to
say the name.
Blake Howard (02:43):
Manischewitz.
Tracy Clark (02:45):
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Blake Howard (02:48):
You just repeated what she says.
Tracy Clark (02:49):
All
Blake Howard (02:52):
right, cool.
Manischewitz?
Manisch...
Speaker 03 (02:55):
Manischewitz.
Oh, boy.
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz or something likethat.
Tracy Clark (03:03):
It's close.
You're very close.
Blake Howard (03:07):
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Speaker 01 (03:15):
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Pretty, pretty good.
Wow,
Blake Howard (03:36):
that was brutal.
Tracy Clark (03:38):
It really was.
Yeah, I felt kind of bad, ifI'm honest.
But it tells us something aboutthis brand.
It may be seen as, not for me,based on that really tough
pronunciation.
Like, Don't get me wrong.
I'm not saying that they shouldhave changed it.
It has a lot of equity.
But if you're going to have aname that's really hard to
pronounce, but it's reallydistinct.
(04:00):
It's got a lot of good thingsgoing for it.
The rest of the brand elementsneed to feel maybe more, I don't
know, welcoming, inviting.
You know what I mean?
I
Blake Howard (04:08):
do.
Yeah.
A little more clear.
And I think this story isinteresting also because it's in
the CPG space, which isnotoriously difficult to achieve
distinction, to pop off theshelves, you know.
And then if you havedistinction or you're
recognizable on the shelf, to gothrough any sort of change is
(04:31):
really difficult.
People sort of freak outbecause that moment of
recognition is directly tied tosales and those sales
opportunities.
drive the bottom line of thecompany performance.
And so executives typically shyfrom any sort of change in the
CPG category, or at least theyneed to be convinced that this
(04:51):
change will work.
Tracy Clark (04:53):
Yeah, yeah, totally fair.
They definitely do.
And sometimes brands, you and Ihave seen this, they have to
take that risk, that calculatededucated risk to wake up a
category.
And that's exactly what thisbrand needed to do.
It's a lot to unpack.
Are you game for giving us alittle briefing?
Blake Howard (05:10):
Yes, I am, of course.
Let's Manischewitz?
Tracy Clark (05:16):
Let's manifest the Manischewitz.
Blake Howard (05:18):
Let's manifest the briefing?
Oh, boy.
Speaker 03 (05:24):
Hi, here's one of my new favorites.
Almaneta, gentle Almaneta,Almaneta from Manischewitz wine.
Has a kind of nutty taste, hasa kind of gentle taste, nutty
taste, gentle taste, nuttytaste, gentle taste.
Almaneta, Almaneta, gentleAlmaneta, Almaneta from
(05:47):
Manischewitz wine.
Try some after dinner tonight.
It's delicious.
Blake Howard (05:54):
Thanks, Sammy Davis Jr.
I'll take it from here.
How do you modernize a brandthat practically is tradition?
For over 130 years,Manischewitz has been a staple
in Jewish kitchens, known forits matzah, kosher wines, and
boxed mixes that have gracedSeder tables for generations.
But in recent years, its visualidentity felt frozen in time,
(06:17):
more tied to nostalgia thancultural resonance.
Manischewitz was founded in1888 by Rabbi Don Bear
Manischewitz in Cincinnati,where it quickly grew by
mechanizing matzah baking andmaking kosher foods available at
scale.
The introduction of theconveyor belt oven
revolutionized matzahproduction, a major shift from
(06:39):
the hand-rolled tradition.
Though controversial at first,especially among Orthodox
leaders, the innovation waseventually embraced and set the
industry standard.
Over the decades, Manischewitzexpanded its offering to include
broths, macaroons, and sweetkosher wine, creating a pantry
full of holiday staples.
By the mid-20th century, it wasa supermarket fixture and a
(07:03):
cultural icon, especially duringPassover and Rosh Hashanah.
But by the 1990s, afterremaining family-owned over a
century, the brand changed handsseveral times and eventually
became part of KAYCO, one of thelargest kosher food
distributors.
Still, as Jewish food culturediversified and reasserted
(07:26):
itself in modern markets,Manischewitz began to feel like
a relic.
Younger generations viewed itas old-fashioned, more Jewish
grandma than contemporarykitchen.
It faced growing competitionfrom boutique kosher brands and
artisanal Jewish food makerswith fresher voices and updated
looks.
In 2019, the first step towardsreinvention arrived, a new
(07:48):
logo.
The orange swoosh and greensquare were replaced with a
simplified orange oval andupdated type.
But that was just thebeginning.
In 2024, leadership at thebeloved kosher brand had plans
to serve up change with evenmore chutzpah.
Would it pay off?
Keep listening to find out.
Lisa Smith (08:12):
My name is Lisa Smith.
I'm the Global ExecutiveCreative Director at JKR.
I was the creative lead on theManischewitz rebrand and
redesign of the identity and thepackaging.
Tracy Clark (08:24):
So let's start with a fun one.
Do you or your family have anytraditions around food?
Like we tend to focus on sortof the cuisine where my parents
grew up in Jamaica, but do youhave any family traditions
Lisa Smith (08:36):
around food?
I'm British, so we have a lotof food traditions that are all
based on probably not veryhealthy food.
But we love a Sunday roast.
And it's interesting, even inNew York, I have a lot of expat
friends.
And in the winter season, weall do take turns doing a Sunday
roast.
So we seem to put Yorkshirepuddings with everything, even
(08:57):
though they're meant to go withroast beef.
I love fish and chips.
When I get to go back to theUK, I sort of indulge in all of
the things that are are somewhatnaughty and delicious and
comforting.
Tracy Clark (09:11):
So let's talk about Manischewitz a little bit.
So what was your initialperception of the brand?
What did you think about itbefore
Lisa Smith (09:18):
you jumped in?
I didn't know the brand thatwell.
I knew it enough to know thatobviously like the way the
supermarkets are laid out in theStates, it's very like
different cuisines are sort ofor different types of food are
very like segregated into theirown section and their own parts
of the aisles.
But I think what was reallyinteresting about this category
(09:39):
is the food is somewhat kind oflike the bits that I was more
familiar with, things likebagels and stuff like that.
It's all quite beige food andthe packaging all felt very
beige.
So it was just like on theoutside, it kind of looks quite
bland.
I think being food curious,which says we got more into kind
(10:02):
of knowing the brand andactually talking more and more
to people back at JKR aboutManischewitz.
Manischewitz has paid a role intheir lives throughout their
life.
Since they were young children,this brand has been there.
It's been a staple, traditionalPassover's and other
traditional kind of So the brand
Tracy Clark (10:41):
was beloved by many and unknown by many more.
That begs the question, of howdo you bring a brand like this
to the world without losing thecore of who you are and who
adores you?
And Lisa and team would learnthat there were even more
challenges afoot in the market.
The
Lisa Smith (10:58):
actual challenge was around the kosher aisle, which
was in decline as more peoplestart to eat more variety of
foods.
They're less strict about whatfoods they eat.
And more and more people arecurious about other types of
foods and want to be invited in.
We have this beautifulsituation where it's like, oh,
(11:20):
this brand is kind of gettinglost.
But more people are morecurious about food and Jewish
food and Jewish culture andstudy.
And then more people are beingless strict.
And this brand is just sort oflike getting kind of lost in
that kind of noise and culturalshifts that are happening.
Tracy Clark (11:38):
There are secular versus observant audiences and
how does Manischewitz serve allof them and how did they work
with the brand?
Lisa Smith (11:45):
One of the things we talked about is in order for
them to sort of like survive andthen grow, we were going to
have to embrace inviting otherpeople into this brand.
But we obviously did not wantto alienate all of this passion
and the staple for so manyJewish families.
We did not want to make thisbrand feel unfamiliar to them.
(12:07):
I think what was reallyinteresting about wanting to
bring other people in was therewas the cultural shifts around
more people of food curious.
There was a cultural awakeningto Jewish cuisine.
It's becoming more and morelike a lot of other people
almost bought into Jewish foodwithout even completely knowing
it's Jewish food.
And I think the last one wasthat there was a huge
(12:30):
re-evaluation that actuallykosher food is a lot healthier
for you as well because there'sa lot less artificial
ingredients.
It's because it's actually themore simple staples in so many
different ways.
It's actually got health.
Kosher food has actually a lotof health benefits to it.
That sort of trifecta of all ofthose things made it more of an
(12:51):
interesting offer to invitemore people to come and savor
the traditions of this food.
Tracy Clark (12:58):
So let's talk a little bit about the pitch
process.
So how did you hear about theopportunity?
How did it come about and whatwas the pitch process like?
Lisa Smith (13:07):
Our chief growth officer, Sarah, she was
introduced to Maudie who is theCEO of Keiko, which is a food
company that Manischewitz is oneof the brands.
They acquired Manischewitz.
And by somebody that I thinkhad worked at Starbucks and was
doing his own entrepreneurialthings.
Sarah was brilliant becausethroughout the process, she
(13:28):
showed up throughout it becauseshe built through this kind of
like meaning and greeting withMaudie, where they went to a
Lower East Side Jewishrestaurant together to sort of
like see if there was thesynergy, what ways could JKR and
Keiko kind of collaborate.
So Manischewitz wasn't theinitial one.
It was more like, do we work onsome more of their startup
brands?
Do we work on something else inthe portfolio?
(13:50):
But it was Manischewitz thatMaudie thought we would be so
perfect for.
So in this instance, we neededto capture, were there anything,
was there things in the archiveor anything from Manischewitz?
Or was it really aboutcapturing what the spirit is and
holding the mirror up andtrying to find that?
And I think Sarah and Maudiejust had built a really good
(14:11):
friendship and dialogue.
So when then it came to kind ofpitch, it was much more kind of
intimate and the process was ussharing our thoughts on
Manischewitz and what we coulddo for them and what the
opportunity was.
And it was more the instinctsand the perspectives that we had
was what made the decisionwhether we were the right
(14:33):
partner to be able to work onit.
We curated a very mixed anddiverse team, which was really
important to me because I wantedto capture that super passion
for people's dinner table andthe history and legacy they had
with it.
With some new, freshperspectives that were like, oh,
actually, well, to be honest,they're trying to bring me to
the table.
(14:53):
Lisa from Long Island, like wehad that curation and somehow it
really hit it off in what theambitions and the goals were and
the partnership with everybody.
Like it was a cacophony, justlike a Jewish dinner table where
everyone can't stop talking andgets really excited.
Tracy Clark (15:11):
This is something I really enjoy hearing.
Because in this day and age,post-COVID and all, it's a rare
treat when agencies and brandscan get together at the table,
real or proverbial, and justfind out what you're about, what
you have in common, and whatyou can learn from one another.
Then it's all the moreeffective and fun when you start
(15:32):
to uncover foundational brandmagic together.
I got to hear more about whatit was like and how important it
was to get that part right.
Lisa Smith (15:41):
Once we curated the sort of JKR team, we did go out
and we hit the streets and wentand ate in different restaurants
together.
We really wanted to understandthe sort of culinary traditions
and we curated some of theselike expert interviews with kind
of consumers from both sides,people that were food curious as
(16:02):
well as like people who'vegrown up with this food.
And we wanted to try and findwhat's the magic I remember
years ago, I used to do rockpops for every pitch we'd ever
do, like to ask people what theythought of, like almost hit the
street and ask people what theythink of that brand.
It was always just soenlightening because you get fed
all this quant and qual and somuch research and burdened down
(16:26):
before.
And you actually, you need tohear some of it verbatim.
Like it really, really helps.
And I think with this, yeah,mining sort of the culture that
was that large and happening ina city like New York that's so
rich and so diverse like therewas no better place to do it but
we also needed to go into thearchives but it was really
(16:47):
amazing to see the original sortof black and white photos of
like yes of the matzah beingpressed and the sort of story
and journey of this likeamerican jewish food brand and
the the identities and and justthe language like we we looked
at a lot of like jewishcookbooks and things like that
to see like what were the designlanguages what were the photo
(17:09):
styles throughout history aroundthis brand and the food.
We're trying to sort of minethe visual world of Manischewitz
historically.
What was there that were thethings we could bring back?
What do we need to leavebehind?
All of those things.
And I think a lot of designtropes that were very similar
for all types of Jewish food andJewish language, which actually
(17:32):
made it hard to find somethingspecific that was easy to sort
of mine from the past.
Tracy Clark (17:37):
Was there anything untouchable?
in terms of design, messaging,
Lisa Smith (17:41):
visuals?
No, I think that was one of thebiggest things that we talked
about.
The brand had this iconic name.
I think I remember when I firsthad a call with Maudie, he was
like, it's a billion dollar nameand we're super well known in
culture, but the brand is dustyand in decline and you need to
help revive it and get it backto this thing that people have
(18:05):
in their hearts and their minds.
And I mean, in truth, we didtake Manny Shevitz and we did an
abbreviation to Manny's becausesome people say Manny's because
Manny Shevitz is a verycomplicated, long name and
Tracy Clark (18:18):
word.
Once the JKR team had spentthat quality time mining through
all this inspiration fromlanguage to visuals and finding
out just how far they can pushthis brand.
You realize there's great careand intention that has to go
with the strategy and brandpositioning.
I asked Lisa about that momentwhere it all has to come
(18:38):
together from so many inputs.
What was that aha moment?
What was that uncovering orthat big idea and strategy that
made you realize, ah, that's it,that's the North Star?
Lisa Smith (18:51):
Yeah, I mean, I think the idea, so the brand
idea we talked about wassavoring our traditions,
embracing where we come from,and the sort of generational
impact we've had along the way,elevating those kind of
traditional roots and theninviting everyone to come in and
celebrate this Jewishtraditions through food was the
(19:12):
core of it.
So it had to feel inviting,warm and welcoming and all of
those things.
And so then we had principleslike inviting confidence.
So we knew they have swagger.
I mean, I told you they wereall like the cacophony of the
meetings and the things.
The individuals have swagger,not the brand at the time.
technically behind the scenes,they're not an unconfident
(19:34):
brand.
And they'd done a few thingslike in social that were quite
provocative and fun and playful.
So I knew they had a bit ofthat confidence and swagger that
they needed.
So how could we be proud oftheir fame and welcoming of the
traditions, that spiritedpersonality?
Well, that is the cacophony oflike millions of voices and
(19:55):
everyone talking over and aJewish dinner table when they're
really into it but then theidea of inviting others sharing
those traditions and theexcitement around that it's just
charming and not afraid ofsharing those honest opinions
and the last one was craveablecomfort food brands should feel
like you want to eat it soobviously that but the comfort
(20:18):
bit with the craveable comfortis that level of kind of like
warmth and indulgence andrichness and the emotional and
sort of sensorial impact youwant to have around that food so
we held those up and filled inall of the work through that
Tracy Clark (20:32):
okay so they're feeling good about the three
foundational principles toanchor the brand work inviting
confidence spirited personalityand craveable comfort but can we
count our matzo balls beforethey're fluffy as a strategist i
always wonder if the strategyis approved round one Or if they
have another go, or several.
And keeping in mind theirbeloved existing audience, was
(20:55):
there anything they felt theyshould keep, like, as a relic or
an homage to the existingbrand?
Can you really reinvigorate acategory without starting over
completely?
Did they buy into the strategydirection round one, or was it
some tweaking, or...
Lisa Smith (21:13):
Oh no, no, I definitely, we were tweaking.
The sentiment was there, thegetting the words articulated
took a little bit more time andfine tuning and a lot of back
and forth.
Like sometimes we're notperfect or we've misunderstood
the brief or the, you know,something's gone awry.
And you need to know that therelationship's there.
(21:34):
And of course, we're buildingthis wonderful relationship with
Manischewitz.
And of course, when thathappens in Strat, and then
you're ready to go into design,and it's not a perfectly linear
process that we know, but you'restill tweaking words.
And we're like, we need thewords to know what we're
bringing to life.
And so there's all this danceback and forth between strategy
and design.
But it was a fun dance.
Tracy Clark (21:53):
Yeah, sometimes it can be a fun, an invigorating
dance.
And sometimes it's, okay, well,I'm getting a little nervous,
right?
Lisa Smith (22:00):
And it was really important to get that right
because one of the biggestthings I think that's part of
this brand identity isn't justthe visual side, it's also the
verbal, the tone of voice.
And I think our writer, Jo,who's embedded in this process
too, really being able to kindof take those principles and
then sort of have fun with,again, What's the Jewish
(22:23):
language we use in society thateverybody says, you know?
And how can you mix some ofthat in without being too
try-hard, too stereotyping?
All of these things, it was avery careful balance that I
think we managed to find, again,the sort of warmth and joy in
all of this.
We talked about the dynamicnessof, like, especially with all
(22:48):
the different packaging formats,are there ways, different ways
we could mix play with this verylong word that has to fit on a
jar of soup.
And so we started to talkabout, oh, can we use the
abbreviation manis in someplaces?
And then we even got down tothe M apostrophe Z for like
(23:08):
really shorthand or tops ofbottle lids and things like
that.
So it really became actually avery dynamic, expressive,
wordmark type system.
And we talked about the snackscould be the manis because it's
like a snackable logo.
And they love that idea andthey're starting to do that now.
The only other thing we didretain was the orange from the
(23:30):
last round because they'dstarted to use orange in the
band.
It actually brought out thekind of warmth in the food.
And then we started to playwith a range of sort of like...
We actually sort of embracedthe cream and the beige in some
ways and have...
cream which gives again andit's sort of it can cue a little
bit nostalgic but it does makeeverything feel warmer but it
(23:53):
works really well when you startto see the portfolio that's all
within sort of a palette that'sall really complementary to
each other but I think orange isreally the only thing that we
retained.
I think the question is alwaysto ask is what is recognizable
and to your point the name andthe color orange is the two
things that one it was justbecause it had been going the
(24:15):
orange had been there for solong and then the name but yeah
there was no visual cues oranything else that was memorable
in people's minds it was justmore just in their heart and
mind what this brand stood forbut quite tricky because it's
like when you go and start doingdesign directions for a brand
that you do have more permissionis how do you actually build it
(24:37):
off the strategy.
And I think the strategy wasone of the most important pieces
in this brand.
When a category, which kosherfood category, is in major
decline because more people arebeing less strict about the food
and looking beyond it and wewant to invite more people in,
we're going to have to dosomething pretty loud and brave
at this point.
Tracy Clark (25:03):
It's time for a quick break.
Will one of these concepts winthem over and break the brand
wide open?
Or is their fear of changegoing to be too much to bear?
All that and more when we comeback.
Blake Howard (25:22):
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(26:02):
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Tracy Clark (26:12):
Hey, everyone.
I want to take a quick minuteand give a hat tip to
Matchstick.
It's where I work and ourproducing partner for this show.
We specialize in helpinggrowing brands take their
identity to the next level.
If you need help clarifyingyour message or standing out in
the market, be sure to visit usat matchstick.com.
That's M-A-T-C-H-S-T-I-C dotcom.
(26:34):
And if you're enjoying this andother episodes, be sure to tell
a friend or leave us a review.
Okay, back to the show.
Before the break, we werefeeling the pressure Lisa and
team must have been under todeliver this brand in a way that
really needed to wake up anentire food category.
(26:56):
And with three directions and alot of opinions, how on earth
would they choose?
Would any of them fit the billto create that much needed
splash while keeping the love?
Could they have their coffeecake and eat it too?
Lisa Smith (27:10):
I remember that meeting pretty vividly, to be
honest.
And it was at KCO's offices inNew Jersey.
And I think it was one of ourcreative directors and myself
and account director and thestrategy.
So there was maybe four of usrepresenting the team.
I think we often invite thefull team on the rest of Zoom.
(27:30):
And then this meeting, it hadMaudie, who is the CEO of Keiko.
He's unlike any CEO I've metbecause he's just such a
character and so warm andwelcoming and loud and
opinionated and storied.
This was said with love, I'msure, right?
Absolutely with so much love,like literally brimming with all
(27:53):
of it at once, which isamazing.
Shani, who was sort of thebrand manager and lead for
Manischewitz, she is responsiblefor all of Manischewitz, but
she partners very closely withSo their relationship was just
really great to see and a lot oftrust, a lot of like...
You could have opinions andback and forth and things like
(28:14):
that.
And then, yeah, then there wasother senior members from Keiko
and from the creative team.
We presented three creativedirections in that meeting and
restrung the sort of narrativefor each of the directions of
several traditions.
And so there was a really clearnarrative.
Tracy Clark (28:30):
Once
Lisa Smith (28:31):
they saw everything, were they clamoring to get a
word in or did they take amoment to process?
They didn't actually speak whenwe initially presented the
directions, because I think ifthey start speaking, they
wouldn't be able to stop.
So in a good way, in a reallygood way.
But it was like, we're onsomething like this.
This is going to wake up thiscategory.
Everyone in the room got up andthey started moving.
(28:54):
I saw them start to cut out thebits that they like and move
them around until we sort ofended up with predominantly was
in one direction, but bits ofthe others.
came into it and they took somebits out and it was brilliant
and I loved it.
I wish I'd filmed it lookingback again.
And in here, the actual threedid look quite different.
(29:17):
So I remember one having a lotmore yellow because there was
yellow in some history pieceswith contrast of dark blues and
stuff like that.
There was one that was likelouder with expressions of
height and like very almostpoetic and rhythmic, the
cacophony of the conversation Ithink we brought to life.
We ended up doing that withsome of the dynamic type later
(29:39):
on.
We held some of that.
Another one was a bit more likefrom the heritage and the
stamps and creating these kindof pieces.
Ironically, that bit kind ofactually is what we kept because
it became quite a typographicbrand as well with the
illustration.
So it's kind of like all thisdynamism.
And then one was veryphotographic and almost
recipe-led.
Actually, that was the one thatdied the most, but actually
(30:01):
some of the style of thephotography stayed.
I think we went into kind ofpatterns and borders and things
like that that we'd seen.
We'd connected the dots againfrom a lot of the Jewish cooking
books and cards and things thatwe'd found from babas
throughout the whole of history.
And I think we'd even talkedabout do we do some handwriting
and have it feel more likerecipe-led and pieces like that.
(30:23):
So we came out of that meetingwith a blueprint.
It didn't all look rightbecause they all came from
different directions.
So we had to go and figure thatpiece out.
But I think everybodyunderstood, like, oh, we love
the character of the type likethis.
We love the boldness of thecolors like this.
We love the illustration andthe warmth of wrapping yourself
around a warm hug of a soupbowl.
(30:46):
So the pack should feel likeit.
There was enough there.
And with that approval process,it was, I think everyone pretty
much did it live in the room.
And yes, Sharni might sharethat a bit more afterwards.
I'd meet with her and theaccount team.
We would meet weekly.
regardless throughout theprocess anyway.
So we stay very, very close.
(31:08):
But she was already thinking,how will this roll out?
What will the story be?
Who should be involved in therollout?
Should I have a campaign?
Should I be doing activations?
We had access to very seniorpeople.
I wouldn't normally be doingthe first round creative meeting
with the CEO in the room.
So that is already quite adifferent process and project in
(31:29):
itself.
That makes it quite special.
That shows how important it wasto him
Tracy Clark (31:33):
Yeah, they have to be committed to this process and
to the outcomes from the get-goor else it's going to be very
difficult.
And they trusted you all.
Like starting from a place oftrust or relational moments can
definitely help.
Lisa Smith (31:44):
Oh yeah, they didn't hold back if they don't like
something, trust me.
And we were moving pretty fast.
The time was now becausehonestly the category, they
couldn't let time slip away muchmore because it would be too
detrimental business-wise.
With the
Tracy Clark (31:58):
creative direction in hand, this is where the even
tougher work began.
They had so many SKUs and solittle time.
Now, a lot of clients getworried about launch in
particular because they thinkit's a really specific light
bulb moment when everything goesdark, people wait with
anticipation, and when the lightflips back on, everything is
(32:19):
magically in the new brandstyle.
Yeah, that never happens.
It's thoughtful, but it'sphased.
It's progressive.
You prioritize things based ona number of factors that will
ensure maximum impact at theright times on the right
shelves.
But you've got to keep thetrust up and stick to the plan,
even
Lisa Smith (32:38):
when it feels terrifying.
I think one of the biggestpieces that we hadn't cracked in
that first meeting was some ofthe packaging.
Because I think we were doing alot on the brand identity.
What does the feeling of thebrand feel like?
And then we're showing it, sortof prototype sketching it onto
some fat pieces, which we pickedlike, I think, some of the key
skews.
So you always go back to Mattsays it's an OG product.
(33:00):
You get that right.
And then they have millions ofdifferent variabilities within
the matzos as well as likespecific ones for Passover and
blah, blah, blah.
So that's a whole designconundrum in itself.
And then the similar with thequantities of soup and things
like that.
But we've done some testillustrations with an
illustrator where they werehugging the bowl of the soup.
(33:21):
This character was cominground.
Whilst we might not have nailedany of the others, it was that
was like, oh my God, that was,is spot on.
It was almost like that becameour lead visual.
That's like, how do we createthis feeling across everything
we make and do?
And that's also a bigundertaking because there's so
(33:42):
many clients would be like, ohmy God, now I've got to
commission illustration forevery pack, every this, every
that.
And they were so, yeah, they'rejust really impressed.
I mean, we didn't know theanswer to that initially, but
they've gone on to, they nowcollaborate direct with the
illustrator on specific skewsand things like that, which is
amazing.
Tracy Clark (34:02):
So they were, yeah, that ability to make that
decision on that commitment toan illustrator commissioning,
that's, that's a huge deal.
And that's something a lot of,a lot of clients can't stomach.
Lisa Smith (34:11):
I know, I know, I know.
Cause there's licensing,there's all different
challenges.
These days I'd hear like, oh,we like that.
Can we just do that then in AI?
You're like, No, that is anartist's work and there are
ethics around that.
We can create you an AIillustration style that is our
vision of what that looks likethat's not born of artists, but
you don't want that either.
Tracy Clark (34:31):
You don't want that either, yeah.
I mean, especially when youthink of how human this brand
is.
I mean, brands are striving tobe more human, generally
speaking, but something likethis, you don't want to mess
with the human factor of it.
And if somebody has diligently,painstakingly, lovingly drawn
this and illustrated it, thenyou want that to be, you can
feel it.
Lisa Smith (34:49):
It's everything is crafted and thought about and
everything is like a cacophonyof layers.
I often think aboutphotographer Martin Parr and I
have one of my favorite photosof the teacup, which is in
British China, which is on amat, which my mom in the 80s
used these table mats that haveseams on them or something like
(35:13):
that.
And then it would be on like aflowery patterned thing that
might be on a formica table.
And so you're just like thelayers on the layers and the
layers.
That's this brand.
Tracy Clark (35:23):
Yes, exactly.
And people will love it morethan if it was created in AI or
something.
They won't know why.
If you compare them side byside, they'll gravitate towards
this and they won't know why.
But that is a big part of it.
Maybe you don't know this offthe top, but start to finish.
Lisa Smith (35:38):
How long do you think it took, the process?
It launched just beforePassover the previous year.
So it's been in the market justfor a year.
So that's great to see how it'sdoing.
And I would say this year isthe first year that the whole
shelf block is completely done.
The shelf is going to be messya bit for the next year, which
is a bit scary to businesses.
Do you know what I mean?
It's like navigating it andstuff like that.
(36:00):
But the Matzo range and a fewof the other products ranges
were launched at the previousPassover and it was just enough
to get there.
And they did quite a lot oflike shopper marketing.
So they went very tactical onlike stuff that you see at
shelf.
I think they went to the keyproducts that were for Passover,
the ones there.
(36:21):
So it meant that the switchinto new pack would happen the
fastest.
And a lot of the cakes andsweets and all of those things
went very quickly into thechange as well.
But I think back to the rest ofthe process, the core of it was
about, it was like six to eightmonths.
But maybe with the sort ofrolling out of the packaging,
(36:41):
the production, it was about ayear.
So, I mean, in the end, whenyou look at it, it's two years
to see it fully run.
Yes, it's going to be a
Tracy Clark (36:49):
transitional phase and that's perfectly normal and
fine.
So I want to switch gears for amoment because I'm curious what
creative element, it could bedesign, that could be verbals,
did you personally love?
I mean, it's hard to choose afavorite baby, but is there just
an element that you just feltwas just so spot on?
Lisa Smith (37:07):
Yeah, it is hard to choose because I do love the
dynamism of the wordmark system.
and that we could go down tothe abbreviated name and then we
could get down to almost amonogram.
And we collaborated with SimonWalker, the typography and the
character that we were alsotrying to get into that.
So there's like very subtlewinks in some, all the details
(37:28):
are really considered.
I do think the illustrationjust added so much character and
quirk.
And we were inspired by likeold New Yorker and like comics,
New York Times kind of comicstrip style, sort of introducing
the food and stuff like that.
And so I think that's, probablythe illustration, but I love
all the hidden sort of details.
And we worked with anincredible Jewish photographer
(37:50):
as well, which was really great.
So we were really cognizant ofthe curation of the mix of the
team too.
I think it was always keepingthe real balance between Jewish
and non-Jewish because that wasthe design challenge.
So we curated partners andcreators from both perspectives
as well.
Tracy Clark (38:07):
Yeah.
And talk a moment about thephotography style just a little
so we can capture that as well.
Because I know we've talkedabout color palette typography
and the beautiful illustrations,the fun illustrations.
Talk a little bit aboutphotography and what you knew
you needed to achieve.
Lisa Smith (38:20):
I think with that as well, it's like, well, one, it
had to achieve the craveability.
So that warmth, thedeliciousness, all of that.
And as much as it's about thephoto style, which is macro and
quite close, we did do wides andclosings.
It was the curation of theprops as well, the eclecticism
that was around some of that.
And it was to make sure thefood just didn't appear as bait.
(38:43):
It was sort of like how we'dexperienced it in restaurants.
We were sort of trying torecreate that and just bring
that level of warmth andyumminess that we know.
Yes,
Tracy Clark (38:55):
absolutely.
Now, was there any element thatmaybe was harder to to execute
than you thought or harder tothink
Lisa Smith (39:01):
through I think the packaging system like I really
love the way we organized it interms of like we took the full
kind of portfolio which insteadwas at the time was over 220
different products but we reallyput it through three lenses of
like products that you needed toactively cook so you use a
stovetop or an oven and use insome way Then you have like the
(39:24):
convenience things, which weremore like the chicken, the matzo
ball soups, other products likecereal and granola and things
like that.
And then you had your kind oflike comfort foods, which were
more like the snack foods, morelike treats, hence the Mani's
snackable logo, cookies,crackers, all of that.
And then celebratory thingsthat were more like the matzo
(39:45):
for Passover and stuff likethat.
But they all technically lookthe same.
It was just a bit like, so itwas a kind of like hierarchies,
introducing other color codingto differentiate, save rescues
and stuff like that.
Little bit of like, those werenot easy challenges.
And we took just enough on ofthe most complex pieces of the
(40:09):
packaging to help solve thesystem.
But it was quite tricky.
Tracy Clark (40:13):
Now, is there anything particularly bold or
risky in the creative directionthat you had to fight
Lisa Smith (40:20):
for?
We loved the illustration, butwe questioned it.
Could it work on everything?
Was it sustainable?
Like what will be the costimplications?
As well as like the actuallogistics of where and how it's
all going to fit on packagingbecause there's so much
information.
So there was some constraintthings.
There were maybe some technicalchallenges around some of those
(40:40):
types of things.
I think more towards the end,it was like, do we just roll
this out and it just hits shelfor do we need to tell a story?
A lot was happening politicallyin the world at the time as
well, so we were veryconscientious to try not to get
caught up in everything that washappening in the world and the
noise and stay true to what thebrief always was and how we
(41:02):
could make this American Jewishfood brand as relevant today as
it had been in the past.
Tracy Clark (41:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
And the thoughtfulness thatneeds to go into that launch.
Internally, how did they rollit out?
How did the layers getintroduced?
Lisa Smith (41:15):
Unlike other teams where I've seen where it's like,
oh, we're going to operate in atent and we're not going to
show anyone else.
And then we'll introduce peopleslowly.
They were going out of theirmeetings, showing them straight
away.
There was no awareness weneeded to do in terms of like...
We're going to have a party andlaunch this internally.
It was like, it was already,everyone was pretty aware.
(41:39):
They definitely have work to dowith obviously sharing it with
their customers.
So this sort of going aroundand the sales team having the
right sales deck to be able tostart to tell the story.
Yeah.
And so it was really welcomedby the customers because we were
going to reinvigorate a wholeaisle of the supermarket,
essentially.
It was exciting.
I think the customer was reallyembracing.
(42:01):
Yeah, they were ready.
Now, what was the hardest partabout the project?
What phase was the biggeststruggle?
The in-between of like whereyou have a cacophony of like
merging three directions intoone.
I generally love because I dothink you're going to land on
something much more unique.
Like there was a heritagedirection, essentially.
There was the cacophony spiritof Jewish culture direction.
(42:25):
And then there was this kind oflike recipe one.
When you start to bring themall together, you start to make
a more unique brand forManischewitz.
But the jump between cutting itall up and putting back
together is a veryuncomfortable, divine moment.
As I said, actually, it wasembraced with such warmth and
excitement.
I've never had, like we weretalking about how many food
(42:48):
critics wanted to interview usafter that.
I've never had that before.
So like with the New YorkMagazine food critic or the New
York Times, A brand normallynever gets talked about in the
food critic section, do you knowwhat I mean?
It was an interesting onebecause it was such an important
part of, again, people'sstaples at the table.
Tracy Clark (43:07):
I have to laugh at the fact that the Keiko and
Manischewitz folks were no holdsbarred when it came to sharing
the work internally.
This is a dangerous game thatcan derail this kind of work
really quickly.
For example, opinions on thework without context can create
sideways energy, trying tojustify work that has already
been painstakingly developed,discussed, and vetted.
(43:29):
And people are naturallyresistant to change, which can
lead to unfounded negativitytowards the work.
But because the connection andtrust were established early on,
they stayed the course andlaunched the new brand
successfully to audiences whoseemingly warmly
Lisa Smith (43:46):
welcomed the change.
I mean, the reception, I'venever received reception on a
brand like we've received withManischewitz.
I still get notes to this day.
I have a note from a client whosaid, just come after this
Passover, how this has madesuch, in what are quite
difficult times, such adifference to have such a joyful
(44:08):
brand on the dinner tableduring Passover.
Tracy Clark (44:13):
Genuine connection between agency and brand is such
a key tenet that gets lost orminimized.
But when you work at it andmake it a priority, the brand
has no choice but to besuccessful because it's based on
honesty inside and out.
The lesson that Lisa would thentell me made all the sense in
the world for a brand that hasbrought people together through
(44:34):
food for over 130 years.
And it's one of the hardestthings for brands to embrace.
Lisa Smith (44:40):
be yourself.
We always coined that at TakeCare as a Stolen with Pride
Oscar Wilde quote.
And we ask that of all of ourstaff and everyone that works
there.
And we ask that of the brandswe do.
But honestly, this is really atrue reflection of who
Manischewitz are.
It's just a brand that's allabout its soul.
So getting to hold that mirrorup and reflect it, but spend the
(45:03):
right amount of time with them.
I can't recommend that enoughbecause it's just like and
everybody was themselves theyall came to the table as
themselves very like honest iflike I haven't had experience
with this food or the culture soI'm so much more open and I
just think I learned so much inthis project
Tracy Clark (45:28):
I hope you enjoyed this episode of A Change of
Brand.
Be sure to tune in to the nextepisode of Season 6 featuring
the great Jaguar controversywith branding expert and author
Laura Ries and tech writer andeditor Dr.
James Morris.
And if you like what you hear,Hey, give us a follow.
(46:13):
Till next time, I'm your host,Tracy Clark, signing off.
This episode of A Change of Brand is brought to
you by Standards, the no-codeplatform for building web-based
brand guidelines with totaldesign control.
Keep listening to learn more.
Hey, also, this podcast isproduced by Matchstick, the
brand identity house for leaderstaking bold steps towards a
radically relevant brand.
Lisa Smith (00:19):
kosher food category is in major decline because
more people are being lessstrict about the food and
looking beyond it and we want toinvite more people in.
We're going to have to dosomething pretty loud and brave
at this point.
Hey
Tracy Clark (00:35):
everyone, welcome to A Change of Brand, a show
featuring behind-the-scenesstories of rebrand glory, drama,
or disaster.
I'm your host, Tracy Clark.
Blake Howard (00:44):
And I'm your host, Blake Howard.
Tracy Clark (00:52):
Hey, Blake, how's it going?
Blake Howard (00:54):
Tracy, what's up?
Tracy Clark (00:55):
Yeah, you know, making it happen.
Now, I know you know about thisbrand story that I'm super
jazzed to talk about today, butI will say it's a doozy of a
brand name.
In fact, I'd go as far as tosay this name can be a little
intimidating.
Blake Howard (01:12):
Yes, I would say so.
And names that areintimidating...
They have a challenge becauseit feels a little exclusive at
times.
Like as an example, one of myfavorite bands, if you ever say
their name the wrong way, peoplesort of look at you funny.
And that is a little band thatgoes by Bon Iver.
(01:32):
But I will admit, when I say itproperly like that, Bon Iver, I
feel a little highfalutin.
And I just kind of want, likemy Middle Tennessee roots want
to just say Bon Iver, you know?
Oh,
Tracy Clark (01:44):
I definitely thought it was Bon Iver.
Blake Howard (01:46):
Yeah.
Tracy Clark (01:47):
And I probably said that in front of a ton of
people and embarrassed myself.
Bon Iver, hey, have you heardof the band?
Then I quickly learned that itwas the more highfalutin Bon
Iver.
Blake Howard (01:57):
Yeah.
So, you know, sometimes whennames are a little bit difficult
to say, if you don't say themright, you feel like an
outsider.
So I think there's definitelysome of that at play here.
Tracy Clark (02:06):
For sure.
And you and I are insiders,right, for this one because we
already were familiar with thebrand in order to prep for this
conversation and maybe in lifeas well, like we've seen it on
the shelves.
But others, not so lucky.
So, of course, of course, Iwanted to put people on the spot
and see if they could get thepronunciation right on their
own, unprompted.
(02:27):
So I decided to do a little,you know, roving reporter.
Or as you'll hear our guest,Lisa Smith, say...
She called it a Vox Pop, whichI love.
Blake Howard (02:37):
Amazing.
Tracy Clark (02:38):
I know, right?
So anyway, yeah, I asked ahandful of people we know how to
say the name.
Blake Howard (02:43):
Manischewitz.
Tracy Clark (02:45):
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Blake Howard (02:48):
You just repeated what she says.
Tracy Clark (02:49):
All
Blake Howard (02:52):
right, cool.
Manischewitz?
Manisch...
Speaker 03 (02:55):
Manischewitz.
Oh, boy.
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz or something likethat.
Tracy Clark (03:03):
It's close.
You're very close.
Blake Howard (03:07):
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Speaker 01 (03:15):
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Manischewitz.
Pretty, pretty good.
Wow,
Blake Howard (03:36):
that was brutal.
Tracy Clark (03:38):
It really was.
Yeah, I felt kind of bad, ifI'm honest.
But it tells us something aboutthis brand.
It may be seen as, not for me,based on that really tough
pronunciation.
Like, Don't get me wrong.
I'm not saying that they shouldhave changed it.
It has a lot of equity.
But if you're going to have aname that's really hard to
pronounce, but it's reallydistinct.
(04:00):
It's got a lot of good thingsgoing for it.
The rest of the brand elementsneed to feel maybe more, I don't
know, welcoming, inviting.
You know what I mean?
I
Blake Howard (04:08):
do.
Yeah.
A little more clear.
And I think this story isinteresting also because it's in
the CPG space, which isnotoriously difficult to achieve
distinction, to pop off theshelves, you know.
And then if you havedistinction or you're
recognizable on the shelf, to gothrough any sort of change is
(04:31):
really difficult.
People sort of freak outbecause that moment of
recognition is directly tied tosales and those sales
opportunities.
drive the bottom line of thecompany performance.
And so executives typically shyfrom any sort of change in the
CPG category, or at least theyneed to be convinced that this
(04:51):
change will work.
Tracy Clark (04:53):
Yeah, yeah, totally fair.
They definitely do.
And sometimes brands, you and Ihave seen this, they have to
take that risk, that calculatededucated risk to wake up a
category.
And that's exactly what thisbrand needed to do.
It's a lot to unpack.
Are you game for giving us alittle briefing?
Blake Howard (05:10):
Yes, I am, of course.
Let's Manischewitz?
Tracy Clark (05:16):
Let's manifest the Manischewitz.
Blake Howard (05:18):
Let's manifest the briefing?
Oh, boy.
Speaker 03 (05:24):
Hi, here's one of my new favorites.
Almaneta, gentle Almaneta,Almaneta from Manischewitz wine.
Has a kind of nutty taste, hasa kind of gentle taste, nutty
taste, gentle taste, nuttytaste, gentle taste.
Almaneta, Almaneta, gentleAlmaneta, Almaneta from
(05:47):
Manischewitz wine.
Try some after dinner tonight.
It's delicious.
Blake Howard (05:54):
Thanks, Sammy Davis Jr.
I'll take it from here.
How do you modernize a brandthat practically is tradition?
For over 130 years,Manischewitz has been a staple
in Jewish kitchens, known forits matzah, kosher wines, and
boxed mixes that have gracedSeder tables for generations.
But in recent years, its visualidentity felt frozen in time,
(06:17):
more tied to nostalgia thancultural resonance.
Manischewitz was founded in1888 by Rabbi Don Bear
Manischewitz in Cincinnati,where it quickly grew by
mechanizing matzah baking andmaking kosher foods available at
scale.
The introduction of theconveyor belt oven
revolutionized matzahproduction, a major shift from
(06:39):
the hand-rolled tradition.
Though controversial at first,especially among Orthodox
leaders, the innovation waseventually embraced and set the
industry standard.
Over the decades, Manischewitzexpanded its offering to include
broths, macaroons, and sweetkosher wine, creating a pantry
full of holiday staples.
By the mid-20th century, it wasa supermarket fixture and a
(07:03):
cultural icon, especially duringPassover and Rosh Hashanah.
But by the 1990s, afterremaining family-owned over a
century, the brand changed handsseveral times and eventually
became part of KAYCO, one of thelargest kosher food
distributors.
Still, as Jewish food culturediversified and reasserted
(07:26):
itself in modern markets,Manischewitz began to feel like
a relic.
Younger generations viewed itas old-fashioned, more Jewish
grandma than contemporarykitchen.
It faced growing competitionfrom boutique kosher brands and
artisanal Jewish food makerswith fresher voices and updated
looks.
In 2019, the first step towardsreinvention arrived, a new
(07:48):
logo.
The orange swoosh and greensquare were replaced with a
simplified orange oval andupdated type.
But that was just thebeginning.
In 2024, leadership at thebeloved kosher brand had plans
to serve up change with evenmore chutzpah.
Would it pay off?
Keep listening to find out.
Lisa Smith (08:12):
My name is Lisa Smith.
I'm the Global ExecutiveCreative Director at JKR.
I was the creative lead on theManischewitz rebrand and
redesign of the identity and thepackaging.
Tracy Clark (08:24):
So let's start with a fun one.
Do you or your family have anytraditions around food?
Like we tend to focus on sortof the cuisine where my parents
grew up in Jamaica, but do youhave any family traditions
Lisa Smith (08:36):
around food?
I'm British, so we have a lotof food traditions that are all
based on probably not veryhealthy food.
But we love a Sunday roast.
And it's interesting, even inNew York, I have a lot of expat
friends.
And in the winter season, weall do take turns doing a Sunday
roast.
So we seem to put Yorkshirepuddings with everything, even
(08:57):
though they're meant to go withroast beef.
I love fish and chips.
When I get to go back to theUK, I sort of indulge in all of
the things that are are somewhatnaughty and delicious and
comforting.
Tracy Clark (09:11):
So let's talk about Manischewitz a little bit.
So what was your initialperception of the brand?
What did you think about itbefore
Lisa Smith (09:18):
you jumped in?
I didn't know the brand thatwell.
I knew it enough to know thatobviously like the way the
supermarkets are laid out in theStates, it's very like
different cuisines are sort ofor different types of food are
very like segregated into theirown section and their own parts
of the aisles.
But I think what was reallyinteresting about this category
(09:39):
is the food is somewhat kind oflike the bits that I was more
familiar with, things likebagels and stuff like that.
It's all quite beige food andthe packaging all felt very
beige.
So it was just like on theoutside, it kind of looks quite
bland.
I think being food curious,which says we got more into kind
(10:02):
of knowing the brand andactually talking more and more
to people back at JKR aboutManischewitz.
Manischewitz has paid a role intheir lives throughout their
life.
Since they were young children,this brand has been there.
It's been a staple, traditionalPassover's and other
traditional kind of So the brand
Tracy Clark (10:41):
was beloved by many and unknown by many more.
That begs the question, of howdo you bring a brand like this
to the world without losing thecore of who you are and who
adores you?
And Lisa and team would learnthat there were even more
challenges afoot in the market.
The
Lisa Smith (10:58):
actual challenge was around the kosher aisle, which
was in decline as more peoplestart to eat more variety of
foods.
They're less strict about whatfoods they eat.
And more and more people arecurious about other types of
foods and want to be invited in.
We have this beautifulsituation where it's like, oh,
(11:20):
this brand is kind of gettinglost.
But more people are morecurious about food and Jewish
food and Jewish culture andstudy.
And then more people are beingless strict.
And this brand is just sort oflike getting kind of lost in
that kind of noise and culturalshifts that are happening.
Tracy Clark (11:38):
There are secular versus observant audiences and
how does Manischewitz serve allof them and how did they work
with the brand?
Lisa Smith (11:45):
One of the things we talked about is in order for
them to sort of like survive andthen grow, we were going to
have to embrace inviting otherpeople into this brand.
But we obviously did not wantto alienate all of this passion
and the staple for so manyJewish families.
We did not want to make thisbrand feel unfamiliar to them.
(12:07):
I think what was reallyinteresting about wanting to
bring other people in was therewas the cultural shifts around
more people of food curious.
There was a cultural awakeningto Jewish cuisine.
It's becoming more and morelike a lot of other people
almost bought into Jewish foodwithout even completely knowing
it's Jewish food.
And I think the last one wasthat there was a huge
(12:30):
re-evaluation that actuallykosher food is a lot healthier
for you as well because there'sa lot less artificial
ingredients.
It's because it's actually themore simple staples in so many
different ways.
It's actually got health.
Kosher food has actually a lotof health benefits to it.
That sort of trifecta of all ofthose things made it more of an
(12:51):
interesting offer to invitemore people to come and savor
the traditions of this food.
Tracy Clark (12:58):
So let's talk a little bit about the pitch
process.
So how did you hear about theopportunity?
How did it come about and whatwas the pitch process like?
Lisa Smith (13:07):
Our chief growth officer, Sarah, she was
introduced to Maudie who is theCEO of Keiko, which is a food
company that Manischewitz is oneof the brands.
They acquired Manischewitz.
And by somebody that I thinkhad worked at Starbucks and was
doing his own entrepreneurialthings.
Sarah was brilliant becausethroughout the process, she
(13:28):
showed up throughout it becauseshe built through this kind of
like meaning and greeting withMaudie, where they went to a
Lower East Side Jewishrestaurant together to sort of
like see if there was thesynergy, what ways could JKR and
Keiko kind of collaborate.
So Manischewitz wasn't theinitial one.
It was more like, do we work onsome more of their startup
brands?
Do we work on something else inthe portfolio?
(13:50):
But it was Manischewitz thatMaudie thought we would be so
perfect for.
So in this instance, we neededto capture, were there anything,
was there things in the archiveor anything from Manischewitz?
Or was it really aboutcapturing what the spirit is and
holding the mirror up andtrying to find that?
And I think Sarah and Maudiejust had built a really good
(14:11):
friendship and dialogue.
So when then it came to kind ofpitch, it was much more kind of
intimate and the process was ussharing our thoughts on
Manischewitz and what we coulddo for them and what the
opportunity was.
And it was more the instinctsand the perspectives that we had
was what made the decisionwhether we were the right
(14:33):
partner to be able to work onit.
We curated a very mixed anddiverse team, which was really
important to me because I wantedto capture that super passion
for people's dinner table andthe history and legacy they had
with it.
With some new, freshperspectives that were like, oh,
actually, well, to be honest,they're trying to bring me to
the table.
(14:53):
Lisa from Long Island, like wehad that curation and somehow it
really hit it off in what theambitions and the goals were and
the partnership with everybody.
Like it was a cacophony, justlike a Jewish dinner table where
everyone can't stop talking andgets really excited.
Tracy Clark (15:11):
This is something I really enjoy hearing.
Because in this day and age,post-COVID and all, it's a rare
treat when agencies and brandscan get together at the table,
real or proverbial, and justfind out what you're about, what
you have in common, and whatyou can learn from one another.
Then it's all the moreeffective and fun when you start
(15:32):
to uncover foundational brandmagic together.
I got to hear more about whatit was like and how important it
was to get that part right.
Lisa Smith (15:41):
Once we curated the sort of JKR team, we did go out
and we hit the streets and wentand ate in different restaurants
together.
We really wanted to understandthe sort of culinary traditions
and we curated some of theselike expert interviews with kind
of consumers from both sides,people that were food curious as
(16:02):
well as like people who'vegrown up with this food.
And we wanted to try and findwhat's the magic I remember
years ago, I used to do rockpops for every pitch we'd ever
do, like to ask people what theythought of, like almost hit the
street and ask people what theythink of that brand.
It was always just soenlightening because you get fed
all this quant and qual and somuch research and burdened down
(16:26):
before.
And you actually, you need tohear some of it verbatim.
Like it really, really helps.
And I think with this, yeah,mining sort of the culture that
was that large and happening ina city like New York that's so
rich and so diverse like therewas no better place to do it but
we also needed to go into thearchives but it was really
(16:47):
amazing to see the original sortof black and white photos of
like yes of the matzah beingpressed and the sort of story
and journey of this likeamerican jewish food brand and
the the identities and and justthe language like we we looked
at a lot of like jewishcookbooks and things like that
to see like what were the designlanguages what were the photo
(17:09):
styles throughout history aroundthis brand and the food.
We're trying to sort of minethe visual world of Manischewitz
historically.
What was there that were thethings we could bring back?
What do we need to leavebehind?
All of those things.
And I think a lot of designtropes that were very similar
for all types of Jewish food andJewish language, which actually
(17:32):
made it hard to find somethingspecific that was easy to sort
of mine from the past.
Tracy Clark (17:37):
Was there anything untouchable?
in terms of design, messaging,
Lisa Smith (17:41):
visuals?
No, I think that was one of thebiggest things that we talked
about.
The brand had this iconic name.
I think I remember when I firsthad a call with Maudie, he was
like, it's a billion dollar nameand we're super well known in
culture, but the brand is dustyand in decline and you need to
help revive it and get it backto this thing that people have
(18:05):
in their hearts and their minds.
And I mean, in truth, we didtake Manny Shevitz and we did an
abbreviation to Manny's becausesome people say Manny's because
Manny Shevitz is a verycomplicated, long name and
Tracy Clark (18:18):
word.
Once the JKR team had spentthat quality time mining through
all this inspiration fromlanguage to visuals and finding
out just how far they can pushthis brand.
You realize there's great careand intention that has to go
with the strategy and brandpositioning.
I asked Lisa about that momentwhere it all has to come
(18:38):
together from so many inputs.
What was that aha moment?
What was that uncovering orthat big idea and strategy that
made you realize, ah, that's it,that's the North Star?
Lisa Smith (18:51):
Yeah, I mean, I think the idea, so the brand
idea we talked about wassavoring our traditions,
embracing where we come from,and the sort of generational
impact we've had along the way,elevating those kind of
traditional roots and theninviting everyone to come in and
celebrate this Jewishtraditions through food was the
(19:12):
core of it.
So it had to feel inviting,warm and welcoming and all of
those things.
And so then we had principleslike inviting confidence.
So we knew they have swagger.
I mean, I told you they wereall like the cacophony of the
meetings and the things.
The individuals have swagger,not the brand at the time.
technically behind the scenes,they're not an unconfident
(19:34):
brand.
And they'd done a few thingslike in social that were quite
provocative and fun and playful.
So I knew they had a bit ofthat confidence and swagger that
they needed.
So how could we be proud oftheir fame and welcoming of the
traditions, that spiritedpersonality?
Well, that is the cacophony oflike millions of voices and
(19:55):
everyone talking over and aJewish dinner table when they're
really into it but then theidea of inviting others sharing
those traditions and theexcitement around that it's just
charming and not afraid ofsharing those honest opinions
and the last one was craveablecomfort food brands should feel
like you want to eat it soobviously that but the comfort
(20:18):
bit with the craveable comfortis that level of kind of like
warmth and indulgence andrichness and the emotional and
sort of sensorial impact youwant to have around that food so
we held those up and filled inall of the work through that
Tracy Clark (20:32):
okay so they're feeling good about the three
foundational principles toanchor the brand work inviting
confidence spirited personalityand craveable comfort but can we
count our matzo balls beforethey're fluffy as a strategist i
always wonder if the strategyis approved round one Or if they
have another go, or several.
And keeping in mind theirbeloved existing audience, was
(20:55):
there anything they felt theyshould keep, like, as a relic or
an homage to the existingbrand?
Can you really reinvigorate acategory without starting over
completely?
Did they buy into the strategydirection round one, or was it
some tweaking, or...
Lisa Smith (21:13):
Oh no, no, I definitely, we were tweaking.
The sentiment was there, thegetting the words articulated
took a little bit more time andfine tuning and a lot of back
and forth.
Like sometimes we're notperfect or we've misunderstood
the brief or the, you know,something's gone awry.
And you need to know that therelationship's there.
(21:34):
And of course, we're buildingthis wonderful relationship with
Manischewitz.
And of course, when thathappens in Strat, and then
you're ready to go into design,and it's not a perfectly linear
process that we know, but you'restill tweaking words.
And we're like, we need thewords to know what we're
bringing to life.
And so there's all this danceback and forth between strategy
and design.
But it was a fun dance.
Tracy Clark (21:53):
Yeah, sometimes it can be a fun, an invigorating
dance.
And sometimes it's, okay, well,I'm getting a little nervous,
right?
Lisa Smith (22:00):
And it was really important to get that right
because one of the biggestthings I think that's part of
this brand identity isn't justthe visual side, it's also the
verbal, the tone of voice.
And I think our writer, Jo,who's embedded in this process
too, really being able to kindof take those principles and
then sort of have fun with,again, What's the Jewish
(22:23):
language we use in society thateverybody says, you know?
And how can you mix some ofthat in without being too
try-hard, too stereotyping?
All of these things, it was avery careful balance that I
think we managed to find, again,the sort of warmth and joy in
all of this.
We talked about the dynamicnessof, like, especially with all
(22:48):
the different packaging formats,are there ways, different ways
we could mix play with this verylong word that has to fit on a
jar of soup.
And so we started to talkabout, oh, can we use the
abbreviation manis in someplaces?
And then we even got down tothe M apostrophe Z for like
(23:08):
really shorthand or tops ofbottle lids and things like
that.
So it really became actually avery dynamic, expressive,
wordmark type system.
And we talked about the snackscould be the manis because it's
like a snackable logo.
And they love that idea andthey're starting to do that now.
The only other thing we didretain was the orange from the
(23:30):
last round because they'dstarted to use orange in the
band.
It actually brought out thekind of warmth in the food.
And then we started to playwith a range of sort of like...
We actually sort of embracedthe cream and the beige in some
ways and have...
cream which gives again andit's sort of it can cue a little
bit nostalgic but it does makeeverything feel warmer but it
(23:53):
works really well when you startto see the portfolio that's all
within sort of a palette that'sall really complementary to
each other but I think orange isreally the only thing that we
retained.
I think the question is alwaysto ask is what is recognizable
and to your point the name andthe color orange is the two
things that one it was justbecause it had been going the
(24:15):
orange had been there for solong and then the name but yeah
there was no visual cues oranything else that was memorable
in people's minds it was justmore just in their heart and
mind what this brand stood forbut quite tricky because it's
like when you go and start doingdesign directions for a brand
that you do have more permissionis how do you actually build it
(24:37):
off the strategy.
And I think the strategy wasone of the most important pieces
in this brand.
When a category, which kosherfood category, is in major
decline because more people arebeing less strict about the food
and looking beyond it and wewant to invite more people in,
we're going to have to dosomething pretty loud and brave
at this point.
Tracy Clark (25:03):
It's time for a quick break.
Will one of these concepts winthem over and break the brand
wide open?
Or is their fear of changegoing to be too much to bear?
All that and more when we comeback.
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(26:02):
And finally, bring some orderto the brand chaos.
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Tracy Clark (26:12):
Hey, everyone.
I want to take a quick minuteand give a hat tip to
Matchstick.
It's where I work and ourproducing partner for this show.
We specialize in helpinggrowing brands take their
identity to the next level.
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(26:34):
And if you're enjoying this andother episodes, be sure to tell
a friend or leave us a review.
Okay, back to the show.
Before the break, we werefeeling the pressure Lisa and
team must have been under todeliver this brand in a way that
really needed to wake up anentire food category.
(26:56):
And with three directions and alot of opinions, how on earth
would they choose?
Would any of them fit the billto create that much needed
splash while keeping the love?
Could they have their coffeecake and eat it too?
Lisa Smith (27:10):
I remember that meeting pretty vividly, to be
honest.
And it was at KCO's offices inNew Jersey.
And I think it was one of ourcreative directors and myself
and account director and thestrategy.
So there was maybe four of usrepresenting the team.
I think we often invite thefull team on the rest of Zoom.
(27:30):
And then this meeting, it hadMaudie, who is the CEO of Keiko.
He's unlike any CEO I've metbecause he's just such a
character and so warm andwelcoming and loud and
opinionated and storied.
This was said with love, I'msure, right?
Absolutely with so much love,like literally brimming with all
(27:53):
of it at once, which isamazing.
Shani, who was sort of thebrand manager and lead for
Manischewitz, she is responsiblefor all of Manischewitz, but
she partners very closely withSo their relationship was just
really great to see and a lot oftrust, a lot of like...
You could have opinions andback and forth and things like
(28:14):
that.
And then, yeah, then there wasother senior members from Keiko
and from the creative team.
We presented three creativedirections in that meeting and
restrung the sort of narrativefor each of the directions of
several traditions.
And so there was a really clearnarrative.
Tracy Clark (28:30):
Once
Lisa Smith (28:31):
they saw everything, were they clamoring to get a
word in or did they take amoment to process?
They didn't actually speak whenwe initially presented the
directions, because I think ifthey start speaking, they
wouldn't be able to stop.
So in a good way, in a reallygood way.
But it was like, we're onsomething like this.
This is going to wake up thiscategory.
Everyone in the room got up andthey started moving.
(28:54):
I saw them start to cut out thebits that they like and move
them around until we sort ofended up with predominantly was
in one direction, but bits ofthe others.
came into it and they took somebits out and it was brilliant
and I loved it.
I wish I'd filmed it lookingback again.
And in here, the actual threedid look quite different.
(29:17):
So I remember one having a lotmore yellow because there was
yellow in some history pieceswith contrast of dark blues and
stuff like that.
There was one that was likelouder with expressions of
height and like very almostpoetic and rhythmic, the
cacophony of the conversation Ithink we brought to life.
We ended up doing that withsome of the dynamic type later
(29:39):
on.
We held some of that.
Another one was a bit more likefrom the heritage and the
stamps and creating these kindof pieces.
Ironically, that bit kind ofactually is what we kept because
it became quite a typographicbrand as well with the
illustration.
So it's kind of like all thisdynamism.
And then one was veryphotographic and almost
recipe-led.
Actually, that was the one thatdied the most, but actually
(30:01):
some of the style of thephotography stayed.
I think we went into kind ofpatterns and borders and things
like that that we'd seen.
We'd connected the dots againfrom a lot of the Jewish cooking
books and cards and things thatwe'd found from babas
throughout the whole of history.
And I think we'd even talkedabout do we do some handwriting
and have it feel more likerecipe-led and pieces like that.
(30:23):
So we came out of that meetingwith a blueprint.
It didn't all look rightbecause they all came from
different directions.
So we had to go and figure thatpiece out.
But I think everybodyunderstood, like, oh, we love
the character of the type likethis.
We love the boldness of thecolors like this.
We love the illustration andthe warmth of wrapping yourself
around a warm hug of a soupbowl.
(30:46):
So the pack should feel likeit.
There was enough there.
And with that approval process,it was, I think everyone pretty
much did it live in the room.
And yes, Sharni might sharethat a bit more afterwards.
I'd meet with her and theaccount team.
We would meet weekly.
regardless throughout theprocess anyway.
So we stay very, very close.
(31:08):
But she was already thinking,how will this roll out?
What will the story be?
Who should be involved in therollout?
Should I have a campaign?
Should I be doing activations?
We had access to very seniorpeople.
I wouldn't normally be doingthe first round creative meeting
with the CEO in the room.
So that is already quite adifferent process and project in
(31:29):
itself.
That makes it quite special.
That shows how important it wasto him
Tracy Clark (31:33):
Yeah, they have to be committed to this process and
to the outcomes from the get-goor else it's going to be very
difficult.
And they trusted you all.
Like starting from a place oftrust or relational moments can
definitely help.
Lisa Smith (31:44):
Oh yeah, they didn't hold back if they don't like
something, trust me.
And we were moving pretty fast.
The time was now becausehonestly the category, they
couldn't let time slip away muchmore because it would be too
detrimental business-wise.
With the
Tracy Clark (31:58):
creative direction in hand, this is where the even
tougher work began.
They had so many SKUs and solittle time.
Now, a lot of clients getworried about launch in
particular because they thinkit's a really specific light
bulb moment when everything goesdark, people wait with
anticipation, and when the lightflips back on, everything is
(32:19):
magically in the new brandstyle.
Yeah, that never happens.
It's thoughtful, but it'sphased.
It's progressive.
You prioritize things based ona number of factors that will
ensure maximum impact at theright times on the right
shelves.
But you've got to keep thetrust up and stick to the plan,
even
Lisa Smith (32:38):
when it feels terrifying.
I think one of the biggestpieces that we hadn't cracked in
that first meeting was some ofthe packaging.
Because I think we were doing alot on the brand identity.
What does the feeling of thebrand feel like?
And then we're showing it, sortof prototype sketching it onto
some fat pieces, which we pickedlike, I think, some of the key
skews.
So you always go back to Mattsays it's an OG product.
(33:00):
You get that right.
And then they have millions ofdifferent variabilities within
the matzos as well as likespecific ones for Passover and
blah, blah, blah.
So that's a whole designconundrum in itself.
And then the similar with thequantities of soup and things
like that.
But we've done some testillustrations with an
illustrator where they werehugging the bowl of the soup.
(33:21):
This character was cominground.
Whilst we might not have nailedany of the others, it was that
was like, oh my God, that was,is spot on.
It was almost like that becameour lead visual.
That's like, how do we createthis feeling across everything
we make and do?
And that's also a bigundertaking because there's so
(33:42):
many clients would be like, ohmy God, now I've got to
commission illustration forevery pack, every this, every
that.
And they were so, yeah, they'rejust really impressed.
I mean, we didn't know theanswer to that initially, but
they've gone on to, they nowcollaborate direct with the
illustrator on specific skewsand things like that, which is
amazing.
Tracy Clark (34:02):
So they were, yeah, that ability to make that
decision on that commitment toan illustrator commissioning,
that's, that's a huge deal.
And that's something a lot of,a lot of clients can't stomach.
Lisa Smith (34:11):
I know, I know, I know.
Cause there's licensing,there's all different
challenges.
These days I'd hear like, oh,we like that.
Can we just do that then in AI?
You're like, No, that is anartist's work and there are
ethics around that.
We can create you an AIillustration style that is our
vision of what that looks likethat's not born of artists, but
you don't want that either.
Tracy Clark (34:31):
You don't want that either, yeah.
I mean, especially when youthink of how human this brand
is.
I mean, brands are striving tobe more human, generally
speaking, but something likethis, you don't want to mess
with the human factor of it.
And if somebody has diligently,painstakingly, lovingly drawn
this and illustrated it, thenyou want that to be, you can
feel it.
Lisa Smith (34:49):
It's everything is crafted and thought about and
everything is like a cacophonyof layers.
I often think aboutphotographer Martin Parr and I
have one of my favorite photosof the teacup, which is in
British China, which is on amat, which my mom in the 80s
used these table mats that haveseams on them or something like
(35:13):
that.
And then it would be on like aflowery patterned thing that
might be on a formica table.
And so you're just like thelayers on the layers and the
layers.
That's this brand.
Tracy Clark (35:23):
Yes, exactly.
And people will love it morethan if it was created in AI or
something.
They won't know why.
If you compare them side byside, they'll gravitate towards
this and they won't know why.
But that is a big part of it.
Maybe you don't know this offthe top, but start to finish.
Lisa Smith (35:38):
How long do you think it took, the process?
It launched just beforePassover the previous year.
So it's been in the market justfor a year.
So that's great to see how it'sdoing.
And I would say this year isthe first year that the whole
shelf block is completely done.
The shelf is going to be messya bit for the next year, which
is a bit scary to businesses.
Do you know what I mean?
It's like navigating it andstuff like that.
(36:00):
But the Matzo range and a fewof the other products ranges
were launched at the previousPassover and it was just enough
to get there.
And they did quite a lot oflike shopper marketing.
So they went very tactical onlike stuff that you see at
shelf.
I think they went to the keyproducts that were for Passover,
the ones there.
(36:21):
So it meant that the switchinto new pack would happen the
fastest.
And a lot of the cakes andsweets and all of those things
went very quickly into thechange as well.
But I think back to the rest ofthe process, the core of it was
about, it was like six to eightmonths.
But maybe with the sort ofrolling out of the packaging,
(36:41):
the production, it was about ayear.
So, I mean, in the end, whenyou look at it, it's two years
to see it fully run.
Yes, it's going to be a
Tracy Clark (36:49):
transitional phase and that's perfectly normal and
fine.
So I want to switch gears for amoment because I'm curious what
creative element, it could bedesign, that could be verbals,
did you personally love?
I mean, it's hard to choose afavorite baby, but is there just
an element that you just feltwas just so spot on?
Lisa Smith (37:07):
Yeah, it is hard to choose because I do love the
dynamism of the wordmark system.
and that we could go down tothe abbreviated name and then we
could get down to almost amonogram.
And we collaborated with SimonWalker, the typography and the
character that we were alsotrying to get into that.
So there's like very subtlewinks in some, all the details
(37:28):
are really considered.
I do think the illustrationjust added so much character and
quirk.
And we were inspired by likeold New Yorker and like comics,
New York Times kind of comicstrip style, sort of introducing
the food and stuff like that.
And so I think that's, probablythe illustration, but I love
all the hidden sort of details.
And we worked with anincredible Jewish photographer
(37:50):
as well, which was really great.
So we were really cognizant ofthe curation of the mix of the
team too.
I think it was always keepingthe real balance between Jewish
and non-Jewish because that wasthe design challenge.
So we curated partners andcreators from both perspectives
as well.
Tracy Clark (38:07):
Yeah.
And talk a moment about thephotography style just a little
so we can capture that as well.
Because I know we've talkedabout color palette typography
and the beautiful illustrations,the fun illustrations.
Talk a little bit aboutphotography and what you knew
you needed to achieve.
Lisa Smith (38:20):
I think with that as well, it's like, well, one, it
had to achieve the craveability.
So that warmth, thedeliciousness, all of that.
And as much as it's about thephoto style, which is macro and
quite close, we did do wides andclosings.
It was the curation of theprops as well, the eclecticism
that was around some of that.
And it was to make sure thefood just didn't appear as bait.
(38:43):
It was sort of like how we'dexperienced it in restaurants.
We were sort of trying torecreate that and just bring
that level of warmth andyumminess that we know.
Yes,
Tracy Clark (38:55):
absolutely.
Now, was there any element thatmaybe was harder to to execute
than you thought or harder tothink
Lisa Smith (39:01):
through I think the packaging system like I really
love the way we organized it interms of like we took the full
kind of portfolio which insteadwas at the time was over 220
different products but we reallyput it through three lenses of
like products that you needed toactively cook so you use a
stovetop or an oven and use insome way Then you have like the
(39:24):
convenience things, which weremore like the chicken, the matzo
ball soups, other products likecereal and granola and things
like that.
And then you had your kind oflike comfort foods, which were
more like the snack foods, morelike treats, hence the Mani's
snackable logo, cookies,crackers, all of that.
And then celebratory thingsthat were more like the matzo
(39:45):
for Passover and stuff likethat.
But they all technically lookthe same.
It was just a bit like, so itwas a kind of like hierarchies,
introducing other color codingto differentiate, save rescues
and stuff like that.
Little bit of like, those werenot easy challenges.
And we took just enough on ofthe most complex pieces of the
(40:09):
packaging to help solve thesystem.
But it was quite tricky.
Tracy Clark (40:13):
Now, is there anything particularly bold or
risky in the creative directionthat you had to fight
Lisa Smith (40:20):
for?
We loved the illustration, butwe questioned it.
Could it work on everything?
Was it sustainable?
Like what will be the costimplications?
As well as like the actuallogistics of where and how it's
all going to fit on packagingbecause there's so much
information.
So there was some constraintthings.
There were maybe some technicalchallenges around some of those
(40:40):
types of things.
I think more towards the end,it was like, do we just roll
this out and it just hits shelfor do we need to tell a story?
A lot was happening politicallyin the world at the time as
well, so we were veryconscientious to try not to get
caught up in everything that washappening in the world and the
noise and stay true to what thebrief always was and how we
(41:02):
could make this American Jewishfood brand as relevant today as
it had been in the past.
Tracy Clark (41:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
And the thoughtfulness thatneeds to go into that launch.
Internally, how did they rollit out?
How did the layers getintroduced?
Lisa Smith (41:15):
Unlike other teams where I've seen where it's like,
oh, we're going to operate in atent and we're not going to
show anyone else.
And then we'll introduce peopleslowly.
They were going out of theirmeetings, showing them straight
away.
There was no awareness weneeded to do in terms of like...
We're going to have a party andlaunch this internally.
It was like, it was already,everyone was pretty aware.
(41:39):
They definitely have work to dowith obviously sharing it with
their customers.
So this sort of going aroundand the sales team having the
right sales deck to be able tostart to tell the story.
Yeah.
And so it was really welcomedby the customers because we were
going to reinvigorate a wholeaisle of the supermarket,
essentially.
It was exciting.
I think the customer was reallyembracing.
(42:01):
Yeah, they were ready.
Now, what was the hardest partabout the project?
What phase was the biggeststruggle?
The in-between of like whereyou have a cacophony of like
merging three directions intoone.
I generally love because I dothink you're going to land on
something much more unique.
Like there was a heritagedirection, essentially.
There was the cacophony spiritof Jewish culture direction.
(42:25):
And then there was this kind oflike recipe one.
When you start to bring themall together, you start to make
a more unique brand forManischewitz.
But the jump between cutting itall up and putting back
together is a veryuncomfortable, divine moment.
As I said, actually, it wasembraced with such warmth and
excitement.
I've never had, like we weretalking about how many food
(42:48):
critics wanted to interview usafter that.
I've never had that before.
So like with the New YorkMagazine food critic or the New
York Times, A brand normallynever gets talked about in the
food critic section, do you knowwhat I mean?
It was an interesting onebecause it was such an important
part of, again, people'sstaples at the table.
Tracy Clark (43:07):
I have to laugh at the fact that the Keiko and
Manischewitz folks were no holdsbarred when it came to sharing
the work internally.
This is a dangerous game thatcan derail this kind of work
really quickly.
For example, opinions on thework without context can create
sideways energy, trying tojustify work that has already
been painstakingly developed,discussed, and vetted.
(43:29):
And people are naturallyresistant to change, which can
lead to unfounded negativitytowards the work.
But because the connection andtrust were established early on,
they stayed the course andlaunched the new brand
successfully to audiences whoseemingly warmly
Lisa Smith (43:46):
welcomed the change.
I mean, the reception, I'venever received reception on a
brand like we've received withManischewitz.
I still get notes to this day.
I have a note from a client whosaid, just come after this
Passover, how this has madesuch, in what are quite
difficult times, such adifference to have such a joyful
(44:08):
brand on the dinner tableduring Passover.
Tracy Clark (44:13):
Genuine connection between agency and brand is such
a key tenet that gets lost orminimized.
But when you work at it andmake it a priority, the brand
has no choice but to besuccessful because it's based on
honesty inside and out.
The lesson that Lisa would thentell me made all the sense in
the world for a brand that hasbrought people together through
(44:34):
food for over 130 years.
And it's one of the hardestthings for brands to embrace.
Lisa Smith (44:40):
be yourself.
We always coined that at TakeCare as a Stolen with Pride
Oscar Wilde quote.
And we ask that of all of ourstaff and everyone that works
there.
And we ask that of the brandswe do.
But honestly, this is really atrue reflection of who
Manischewitz are.
It's just a brand that's allabout its soul.
So getting to hold that mirrorup and reflect it, but spend the
(45:03):
right amount of time with them.
I can't recommend that enoughbecause it's just like and
everybody was themselves theyall came to the table as
themselves very like honest iflike I haven't had experience
with this food or the culture soI'm so much more open and I
just think I learned so much inthis project
Tracy Clark (45:28):
I hope you enjoyed this episode of A Change of
Brand.
Be sure to tune in to the nextepisode of Season 6 featuring
the great Jaguar controversywith branding expert and author
Laura Ries and tech writer andeditor Dr.
James Morris.
And if you like what you hear,Hey, give us a follow.
(46:13):
Till next time, I'm your host,Tracy Clark, signing off.
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