Satvabeej

With a vision to reach every household and creating a healthy nation, Satvabeej contacted us for streamlining this vision into something that the consumer not only holds in their hand, but also believes in.

When they came to us, they had a production facility, an array of products and at a time when the market was favoring the organic FMCG sector.

Organic food in India was not a new concept. In fact, it is the second-largest exporter of organic goods in Asia, and the largest producer of organic cotton in the world. But, we go way back in ancient literature and history where the knowledge of development and consumption of healthy food was divided up in fragments in multiple texts. For thousands of years, food cultivation and farming have been carried out without the need for any artificial substances and processes.

All of this research led us to ‘सत्त्व,’ (Sattva) one of the three modes of existence according to the Sankhya philosophy of living. This word encompasses a lot of meaning. The ‘सत्’ (Sat) in Sattva symbolizes truth, balance, purity, real, constructive, luminous and many other positive attributes. Sattva roughly translates to Sat-ness, making it literally, the ‘essence of being.’ Its purpose and activity is intelligence, and the essence of the word is affection. It aims to define something that is coherent, balanced and intelligent.

The second part of Satvabeej is ‘बीज’ (Beej) meaning seed. Now, the business does not deal entirely with organic seeds. But the seed here signifies the business taking in concepts of Sattva philosophy to create food, it comes from the seed of the concept of organic, buried in ancient philosophies.

India is conservative, with strong traditional values. The cultural fiber of this land is dense. Indian consumers are usually not always receptive to change. In such a market, introducing a lifestyle-changing product was bound to be difficult. Although, adopting organic was relatively favored by the market.

Instead of manipulating through health concerns, we focused on the concept of health consciousness. Awareness about health, effects of artificial and packaged food loaded with unhealthy ingredients and preservatives led people to question what they put in their bodies and led to the rise of the need for organic consumables. The government of India was also promoting organic agriculture, and published “National Standards for Organic Products.” If followed, a producer becomes eligible to be certified accordingly and put the “India Organic” mark on your packaging. Better and detailed demarcation on the packaging also supported this change.

The hurdle that the organic industry faced was businesses that started showing interest in the industry and wanted to capitalize on this market. Some businesses jargonized the word ‘organic,’ and trendified the concept by targeting affluent, health-conscious upper-class consumer base and demanded a premium for being organic. This gave rise to a misconception that organic is an expensive, premium luxury item not meant for most of the Indian population, which lives in the middle class of the standard of living spectrum.

To change the culture of these households who thought they can’t afford organic was challenged by the ‘Organic for all’ positioning that was strategized for Satvabeej. We associated this brand and it being organic with attributes of Indian middle class itself- Accessible, welcoming, honest, innovative and sustainable. Just like every individual is unique, food also is not supposed to be homogenous as if it were produced in a factory, beautified for boosting sales and full of preservatives so that it has a better shelf life. Food is supposed to be natural, organic and individually unique in nature.

Consumers are already exhibiting responsibility by willing to pay the premium. Now, it is the responsibility of businesses to reciprocate and be organic. Millennials and Generation Z show that they care about what they put in their body and where it comes from.

Make a choice, because now you can. When consumers have an option of organic and other FMCG goods, they stop themselves from making a healthy choice because of either unaffordability or taste. Satvabeej was able to sell a healthy, and tasty product that would not dent the consumer’s wallet, making it easier to choose healthy.

For market penetration, we targeted another cultural aspect of consumer behavior, a space called Kirana stores. These are nothing but hyper-localized provision stores that have an extremely loyal consumer base. These stores along with supermarkets helped them target audiences not filtered by their standard of living.

Since Satvabeej had a variety of offerings, a proper brand architecture, and multibranding helped avoid collision between different products, while maintaining the harmony and brand coherence. It helped Satvabeej narrow down its focus.

The identity reflects all of these aspects. The word Satvabeej is easy to pronounce and has a lot of qualities associated with itself, given the prior knowledge that an Indian consumer has, about both- Sattva and Beej. It helped making it easier for them to associate the qualities of Sattva with the brand and its array of products. The mark is a seed being sown and depicts the initial 'S' in the negative spacing right in the middle.

Slangbusters approached the branding of Satvabeej in a very holistic manner. We left no stones unturned and focused on the cultural aspect of lifestyle alteration by considering aspects like nutrition and health, the environment and the economical aspect, along with the identity and brand facet.