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Rare Blog

Read about our latest thinking!

Oct 30, 2018
5 min

Reality check(out): Did 2018's FMCG trends impact the bottom line?

2018 has been a difficult year for FMCG. Nielsen report that revenue growth in the sector has stagnated, with a drop predicted for groceries, drugs and mass merchandise; the Financial Times calculates that growth rates in FMCG may never return to their 2007-2008 highs, even if growth does return to a 2-3% standard over the next three years. Lean times make brands nervous, and keep them on the lookout for the next big thing. Toward the end of 2017, predictions for the coming (

Apr 4, 2018
6 min

“Soft power can take you all the way” - global strategist Giles Jepson on legacy FMCG brands

Today, legacy brands in FMCG are facing a dramatic escalation in the pace of business, technology and change. With the 2008 financial crisis making a renewed virtue of thrift, the retail environment has been disrupted by the rise and rise of deep discounters like Aldi and Lidl. Purpose-driven startup brands have not only challenged incumbent brands but positioned themselves to become brand leaders in their own right. Strategic innovation has introduced new direct-to-consumer

Jan 9, 2018
5 min

5 key FMCG consumer trends for 2018

Food fads come and go with the wind - but true food trends, powered by consumer behaviour, are a very different beast. While fads can emerge overnight as the result of a celebrity endorsement, powerful media campaign or new diet craze, trends evolve in a very different way. They develop over time, they’re less marketer-driven, and they have a longer shelf life. True trends are usually seen in parallel with a significant shift in cultural, political and economic factors - the

Dec 19, 2017
6 min

FMCG trends 2018: Are they all nonsense?

From the exotic to the obscure, annual industry forecasts for hot new food trends don’t always come to fruition. In 2015 we were all expected to be going wild for insects, millet and seaweed, and topping 2016’s lists were poke, baobab and algae. Of course, sometimes they get it right (see coconuts, kale, avocados), but for the most part, your average consumer isn’t about to ditch their chips for a bowlful of fried beetles. So can we trust food trend lists or are they just PR

Nov 14, 2017
5 min

Soft Power stars: 5 food and drink brands that are doing it right

Step into any supermarket, and you’ll find yourself faced with a bewildering amount of choice - even if you’re just after a simple packet of dried pasta. What do you choose? The supermarket’s own brand, a traditional heritage brand or a new player? Fusilli, penne or conchiglie? Regular or wholewheat? Durum wheat, gluten-free, or crafted from chickpeas or lentils? Brands have two fundamental ways to stands out. Either leverage hard power i.e focus on new product development, d

Oct 17, 2017
5 min

Data by design: How AI and big data will change the face of FMCG in the next 10 years

Artificial Intelligence and ‘big data’ have emerged as the most powerful FMCG tools around. That’s not hyperbole. In March 2015, the Harvard Business Review claimed organisations with above-average grasps on customer data and analytics were outperforming competitors by two or three times in all the important spots: sales, margins and profits. FMCG’s major players were already ahead of the game - Unilever and P&G were both committed to serious data-driven strategies in 2014. P

Sep 12, 2017
4 min

The 4 lessons vape brands can learn from FMCG

A war is being waged against the UK tobacco industry. The government has set its sights on achieving a smokefree nation by 2030; in 2016, they spent £4 million of taxpayer money on anti-tobacco marketing, and on the 17th of May 2017, branding was banned from packaging. The war is being won. In 2016, 15.5% of British adults were smokers, down from 19.9% in 2010. The number of cigarettes smoked in the UK has dropped by two-thirds over the past 25 years. In short, the future loo

Jul 31, 2017
4 min

Thank you for smoking: Why e-cigarettes are the new brand Wild West

Jazz. Rock n Roll. Punk. Hip hop. Disco. Electronica: the 20th century was packed with musical innovation, as forward thinking artists pushed the boundaries of what was possible. But what about the 21st century? It’s debatable, but has there been a defining sound of the millennium? The sounds you hear today are mostly iterations of well developed genres but ‘new’? The world of Fast Moving Consumer Goods suffers the same problem. Today, even the most innovative brands spend mu

Jul 12, 2017
6 min

FMCG trends: Where next for healthy eating?

What does “healthy eating” actually mean? Ten years ago, “organic” was the buzzword. Today, the focus is very much on “clean” ways of masticating. Now, though, there’s a whole host of healthy food trends making waves – and a generation of savvy, educated consumers who have the ability to make or break these new developments. How consumers respond to these new innovations – and how brands position them – can have a huge impact on whether they pass as mere fads or linger for l

Jul 4, 2017
5 min

FMCG design cliches: Why they suck

Let’s face it – we all know that advertisers make their big bucks by selling a fantasy. The thing is, it always seems to be the same fantasy. No matter what the product, the same clichés get trotted out – tired old tropes that have very little bearing on reality. Consider the holiday brochure. Full of happy, smiling faces – kid’s sat on dad’s shoulders or holding mum’s hand as they skip happily along the beach. Anyone who’s actually taken their kids on holiday will know this

Apr 4, 2017
4 min

Food of the future: The next 50 years for FMCG

Innovation is about the long view. To develop the stories and values of FMCG brands, we have to think about current trends and where they’ll take us in five, ten, or even fifty years’ time. This long-term trajectory helps a brand establish itself as future-proof and cutting-edge, and provides a vision that informs the work its design agents do. What are the key trends we’ll see over the next five decades of FMCG? Impossible burgers and dairy-free milk When we worry about clim

Mar 7, 2017
4 min

Plain packaging in FMCH: How can brands future proof for a generic future?

FMCG merchandising is about visually seducing the consumer at point-of-sale (POS). Products vie for consumer attention with loud, smart or innovative packaging, and the challenge is to build a shelf-defining visual identity. But what if that identity was stolen away? That’s the challenge facing big tobacco. Recent regulations in the UK state that cigarettes and rolling tobacco are to be sold unbranded, and hidden behind sliding doors from public view. With the tobacco industr

Feb 13, 2017
4 min

White space: brand problem, or brand opportunity?

The term “white space” can mean a wealth of different things. For designers, it’s a beautiful thing: white space on a page separates the elements, improves readability and creates balance. For brands, we believe “white space” has different connotations altogether, one of gaps in a brand’s portfolio. That might mean an entirely new market, a place that offers no competition, a space in an existing market or product range, or simply an opportunity to stand out in a crowded play

Nov 25, 2016
4 min

Disruption 2017: Five key categories facing change in the next 12 months

Every once in a while, an industry will see the arrival of a product or service that changes everything. For the travel market, Airbnb turned the ideas of holiday on their head, while Uber changed the way we use taxi services forever. Disruption means seismic shift; not small evolution. So what categories are ripe for change in the food-bev world? Let’s look forward to 2017. Dairy The European dairy market is already straining from the pressure of consumer change. It’s a sect

Jul 18, 2016
4 min

Six packaging innovations that changed FMCG forever

Like ‘mind-blowing’, ‘unique’, and ‘breathtaking’, the food industry can occasionally overuse the word ‘innovative’. But there are some innovations in the history of FMCG that one can say, without a shadow of a doubt, changed the way we eat forever. Here are some that set the bar high – as well as one we think will change the industry in the future. 1. Tinned food They say an army marches on its stomach. Well, the collective stomach of the British, French and Dutch navies in