From fragrance to flavors, since 2003, Symrise has been committed to providing innovative ingredient solutions found in iconic food, beverage and beauty care brands. Flash forward to today. Symrise is now looking to expand its portfolio, which for the first time included an entry point into the CPG market with their vanilla extract brand, vnlla. For Symrise, this meant veering from their B2B focus and adapting an entirely new B2C strategy—one where the consumer is king and queen.

The end-goal of Symrise was to build a site to unveil their first-ever B-to-C brand, vnlla. A tech-only web firm wasn’t going to cut it – nor would a CPG branding agency with no tech chops. They needed a digital agency well-versed in ecommerce, CPG (consumer packaged goods) and branding disciplines. Looking at all candidates that fit the bill, e9 rose to the top based on our robust project portfolio, holistic strategy, and of course, experience working with “need it yesterday” deadlines.

e9 EXTRA: Our agency model differs from tech-only firms in that we offer development, design, branding and strategy.

When you’re in the grocery aisle or online, brands offer a barrage of reasons to believe (RTBs)—key attributes to make choosing their brand a no-brainer. Low cholesterol, high fiber, real fruit flavors are the hard facts that lure customers in. However, it’s the emotional overlay that tends to close the deal. We wanted the vnlla brand site to set themselves apart from the competition—leveraging the rich history of the brand, versatility of the product while emotionally connecting with the millennial mom target.

It’s one thing to roll out one vanilla extract product, but Symrise was embarking on an ambitious launch of three products: Pure Vanilla Extract made with Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans, Pure Vanilla Extract blended with other natural flavors, and Pure Vanilla Extract blended with natural extracts and flavors. Different choices means educating customers about the points of difference for each brand and proper usage to incentivize purchase.

With a brand launch in today’s market you have essentially two options. Selling into brick and mortar grocery/specialty chains and ecommerce. Since physical locations would take more time and require more initial product, Symrise preferred to start with the latter—focusing on the top dog in the e-arena. Amazon. We kept ecommerce top-of-mind when developing the site map that incorporated shop buttons into the design/functionality, strategically placed in sections and with products. So let’s say mom wants to add an orange flavor accent to her chocolate Babka recipe. She just clicks the Amazon Shop Now button right next to the corresponding vnlla product and she’s right on Amazon—ready to add it to her cart. Easy.

Once the site map was approved, our designers and writers went to work. While each section had a different focus the end-goal was the same. Product purchase. Which meant a call to action needed to be woven throughout the site without being too intrusive . The other challenge our team faced—an abundance of client content. For our creative team, this required organizing, editing, and in some cases cutting to avoid diluting our primary “pushing the product” purpose, all while keeping the core message for each of the following sections intact.

e9 EXTRA: A well established sitemap allows agency and client to improve on the visitor experience by mapping out and optimizing the journey throughout the site.

Here we offer mom a glimpse of everything vnlla that links to the other sections. From the product line breakdown to the ingredient story, chef partnerships, mom recipes, and of course, where to purchase.

Products

With three products it’s important to educate on two levels. Offer detailed descriptions and highlight product differences to help mom see which vnlla is right for her.

The Story

From its rich Madagascar origins to the vanilla bean’s journey to market, all of which we highlight with a dedicated story section filled with on-location videos and animation that bring to life the meaningful partnership Symrise established with local farmers—proving to mom that vnlla isn’t just about taste, but also a globally responsible brand.

Mom doesn’t shop in a bubble. The world around her impacts her purchasings decisions—now more than ever. What began as word of mouth has evolved into social networks and influencers. With vnlla laser-focused on the mom target we wanted to not just give a nod to this process, but fully embrace mom’s method of brand discovery. With recipes and collaborations we built a system that can continually be expanded, allowing contemporary bakers to showcase their favorite vnlla recipes.

e9 EXTRA: With a rotation of celebrity chefs, we developed a templated design that allows the client to easily update content on the backend.

With the millennial mom being so plugged in, social became a vital component of the launch strategy. Symrise recruited a social media agency to handle all the relevant social channels connecting to the site—the resource hub for the brand. For this reason, we needed to be sure development-wise we could accommodate and properly showcase all the incoming social content via the official #vnlla hashtag.

Even before the impending launch date, the social team started seeding platforms with the vnlla sustainability story. Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram Reels/TV featured live streams, paid and organic content from our brand, chef partners as well as our mom influencers. On Amazon itself, the product page and banners leveraged the site content. For us, this meant taking on the added role as brand curator to ensure all partner agencies maintain brand consistency.

e9 EXTRA: For added engagement, vnlla partner chefs will provide content for Instagram TV, Reels and Stories.