Message First in Practice: Surreal

Message is the heart and soul of brand. Industry experts, agency leaders and leading CEOs know that putting message first is the only approach that delivers the best results for their marketing.

HNW might have codified a unique message first marketing approach, but a huge part of that has been watching how other brands and businesses centre their marketing around a core message. 

Brands like this one.

The Brand: Surreal

Surreal is a fast growing food brand that makes fun and delicious cereal inspired by the flavours children love – except it’s healthy, high in protein, and aimed at adults. 

The Message: Seriously fun cereal for unserious grown-ups

Surreal’s challenge is that they’re operating in a saturated market. 70% of consumers want to be healthier, and for 50% of people across all age groups, eating healthily is a top priority.

A quick glance down the supermarket aisles shows how fierce competition is. Gluten-free, sugar-free, low-fat, low-carb, high-protein convenience foods are taking up more and more space than ever before.

But all of these food brands use very similar messaging. This is good food that’s good for you. Honest. Sensible. And with an odd focus on scatological terms like “regularity.”

All appealing enough to a health-conscious audience, but all very much variations on a theme. There’s a clear focus on health over enjoyment. Especially in the cereal aisle, where drab brown wheat-based biscuits and bran cereals dominate.

Surreal have spotted an opportunity when it comes to positioning. The brand identified a trend towards high protein cereals, and then identified a unique niche – delicious cereal that offers the same enjoyable experience as eating a sugar-laden kids’ product, but with all the health benefits of a grown-up option.

The brand’s messaging leans into this niche. After examining all of the content assets Surreal use across packaging, web assets and social media advertising, we’d summarise this key message as:  

“Seriously fun cereal for unserious grown-ups”

A message that instantly identifies the core audience – adults who enjoy some childish fun, and a key point of difference – enjoyability.

There’s depth to this message. Low sugar, low carb, high protein? These are serious health benefits for such a fun product. But Surreal is never high and mighty, always willing to poke fun at itself – and the competition – because it’s a message aimed squarely at people who just don’t take life too seriously…. But who still want a delicious, healthy breakfast.

It’s a clear, complete encapsulation of the whole brand, and one that leaves scope for a whole range of supporting messaging around nostalgia, childish jokes, and self-deprecating silliness. 

The Voice: Playful Energizer

Because we’ve never worked with Surreal, we haven’t had the benefit of running a tone of voice workshop for them. 

But their tone of voice is incredibly clear and consistent across all of their communications. Just look at how it’s deployed in their LinkedIn biography, a billboard, and their website:

A voice that adds fun, focuses on jokes, and is always lively and upbeat. One that doesn’t take itself seriously, that isn’t afraid of using colloquial phrases (and spellings – check out that summat).

We’d call that voice a playful energizer every day of the week. 

The Deployment: Consistent messaging across multiple channels

With a clear brand tone, and a simple, memorable and engaging message, Surreal are free to create some truly outstanding message-first marketing. 

Seriously fun cereal for unserious grown-ups lets designers lean into childish imagery when it comes to packaging and social media adverts – bright pastel colours and plenty of visual humour. It stands out a mile from the earth tones and worthy pastoral settings of so many health food brands.

The playful tone and focus on fun also lets them take aim at opposing brands, either by playing off product names to associate the experience of eating their products with childhood memories of market leaders, or by just deriding other healthy options as dull and boring with some smart packaging artwork.

It also lets the brand make use of a range of straplines and supporting messages that play off this theme of a childishly fun product with serious health benefits for adults:

THE KEY MESSAGE:  Seriously fun cereal for unserious grown-ups

Primary strapline: Surreally healthy cereal

Company mission: Never stop playing

Supporting messages: The world is serious enough. Why does breakfast have to be?

So good it’s hard to believe it’s (sur)real

Why does cereal have to be this way?

Whether it’s online, on the street, or in your kitchen, Surreal has a consistent message that deftly differentiates them from their more well-established competitors. Their continued success shows that if you’re a challenger brand in a saturated market, the only way to find an audience is to put your message first. 

Putting your message first is so clear. So effective. So what are you waiting for?