creating and launching a dtc sub-brand.

THE ASSIGNMENT

Launch a new product line/sub-brand without the details.

The business wanted to test demand, but had limited consumer insight, undefined customer segments, no precise projections, and almost no engineering support. We didn’t know whether snacks would behave like a Freshly subscription or an à la carte purchase so we had to build out the experience to accommodate either.

At launch, we had one curated box, even though the ambition was broader: more rotating snacks, desserts, breakfast items, and other assortments were all future possibilities. Our creative team goal was to make that uncertainty feel intentional rather than unfinished.

THE BRAND PROBLEM

building a sub-brand that struck the right chord.

We created FreshlyFinds as a flexible sub-brand built around discovery, curation, and novelty. The identity and voice needed to stretch from snacks into future desserts, breakfast boxes, you-name-it without needing to reinvent the program every time the product assortment evolved.

The language stayed broad enough to survive uncertainty, but specific enough to give customers a reason to trust what was in the box.

LANDING PAGE

planning for Two purchase experiences.

The landing page had to work before the purchase model or technical infrastructure was fully settled. After someone chose to shop snacks, they could be routed into different purchase experiences—but the page itself couldn’t expose that complexity.

So the content concentrated on the things that we knew for sure: what FreshlyFinds was, why the assortment was curated, what customers could expect, and why this first box was just the beginning.

new box, who dis?

For lead time and cost reasons, the outside box needed to work for any future assortment—snacks, sweets, breakfast, whatever came next. So the copy had to be specific enough to feel fun and useful, but broad enough to survive the product changes. (I think I nailed it.)

BUILDING TRUST AND PERCEIVED VALUE

Curation with credibility.

I pushed to include Freshly’s head nutritionist, Dr. Brooke, on the first box insert. If we were asking customers to trust a curated assortment they couldn’t fully inspect before purchase, the curation needed a human source. And it was a factual one—Dr. Brooke was helping the business choose snacks and adding nutrition notes to help us to write the insert. That content push survived stakeholder disagreement because it answered the question the rest of the launch couldn’t answer on its own: Why these items? Why this price?

On top of explaining the items in this first box, the insert needed to set the scene (and expectations) for FreshlyFinds. These snacks weren’t going to taste like Doritos, and that’s by design—Freshly was solving snack-time by supplementing Freshly meals with better snack options.

We also added a QR code for survey feedback so the pilot could start producing the customer insight we were missing.

LANDING PAGE ITERATION

testing, testing, 1, 2, 3.

When you launch something when there are still big question marks, you have to be ready to iterate. We built out landing page tests around different hero options and pricing.

THE REQUIREMENTS CHANGED… AGAIN

The system had to bend without looking broken.

The original plan called for assortment-specific inserts that changed every time the box changed. In practice, operations couldn’t always confirm the contents early enough to print the inserts. So we were tasked with a new request to adapt the content into more generic inserts that still felt deliberate, useful, and recognizable. Easy enough.

BUT wait

This just in! We’re now launching desserts WITH snacks. Yes, that means redoing everything. That’s OK—this is what we’ve been training for.

So our generic snack insert got a generic dessert insert sister. And that was just for the insert that went into the actual FreshlyFinds boxes—we also needed a new promotional insert for the core Freshly meal boxes. And a new landing page. And new promotional assets.

THE LITTLE SUB-BRAND THAT COULD

The brand system SAVED THE PILOT FROM CRASHING.

We launched a cohesive FreshlyFinds identity and customer journey that could survive changing assortments, evolving operations, and future product extensions without starting over every time.

The work created a flexible voice and design system, gave customers a clearer reason to trust a product they couldn’t fully preview, and built feedback into the pilot so the team could learn from FreshlyFinds customers.

If I were doing it again, I’d push for more front-end user testing before launch—especially around the health language and customer expectations—as well as earlier alignment around goals and success metrics. The thing I’d keep is the design team’s basic approach: create something that feels trustworthy and delightful enough to take a chance on.