Oobli

Restoring the joy of sweetness thanks to breakthrough tech.

The work

Oobli challenged us to introduce the world to sweet proteins, a breakthrough food innovation poised to radically change the way our culture eats and drinks. But to do that, we had to get smart on emerging food tech, translate it for a wide audience, navigate misinformation and break through the nonsense of diet culture—all to restore the joy of sweetness.

Our roles

Brand Identity
Brand Strategy
Category Creation
Product Launch
Creative Platform
Category and Customer Insights
Audience Segmentation

“Working with Zeus Jones is the definition of partnership. They brought great creative ideas and challenges into each session and I always felt the team’s commitment to our shared mission and long-term success.”

Ali Wing, CEO at Oobli

Chocolate bars stacked with marshmallows and graham crackers to make s’mores.

The Opportunity

Create an entirely new category of sweetness without the baggage of sugar or its alternatives.

The California-based company had developed precision fermentation tech that could take sweet proteins, previously only found in rare fruits, and make them climate-positive, accessible and affordable to everyone, everywhere. Unlike alt sweeteners, these proteins actually taste like sugar—with none of the downsides. But the promise of Oobli was even bigger. Oobli wanted to spark a revolution in our culture’s idea of what health looks, feels and tastes like. And they wanted to start with sweet tea and chocolate bars.

Our Approach

Hello sweetness, my old friend: Reclaiming the narrative on indulgence.

Our partnership with Oobli took us through cultural, consumer and landscape research that helped root our work in mindset as much as market. As we dug into sweet proteins, a path for the brand began to emerge: We needed a new way to talk about a topic that people navigate every day, without being reactionary, relying on archaic “diet talk” or ignoring the emotions that often underpin conversations about sweets.

Screenshots from a Zoom call showing the faces of the seven experts who made up the Oobli think tank.

Little by little we uncovered Oobli’s potential as a brand, ingredient and product, and even identified ways we could set them up for future successes. To broaden our perspective and possibilities even further, we assembled a powerhouse think tank of culture writers and food tech experts whose industry insights helped us find an authentic space for Oobli to play.

Once we landed on this new world of happy, healthy, have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too sweetness, it was time to bring it all to life.

“Guilt and shame so often play into the avoidance of sugar, and artificial sweeteners perpetuate the same harmful mindsets. So we had to ask: Could sweet proteins slay the dragon of diet culture?”

Jordana Rothman, Creative at Zeus Jones

The Outcome

Bringing the world of Oobli to life, one “ooble” at a time.

We built a brand staked on the radical idea that sweetness should be as good for the body as it is for the soul. We carried that thread through a brand narrative and visual identity, naming, consumer testing and launch support. Leading with a feeling, we brought together punchy type, poppy colors and buoyant sweet protein “ooble” shapes meant to take up space—and radiate inclusivity.

And we brought it all to bear on Oobli’s first consumer products: chocolate bars and sweet teas sweetened with proteins and fine-tuned to satisfy. The inaugural products caught the eye (and sweet tooth) of Time magazine editors, who included Oobli sweet proteins on the 200 Best Inventions of 2023 list. In an industry that trades in guilt and shame, we built a brand that uplifts, supports and restores.

That was pretty sweet.