Scout Tuna Snacks: Trending in Tinned Fish

SCOUT Canning, one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the food category, launched a line of mix-in seafood snacks in 2023. Inspired by trending international taste profiles, these snacks are packaged in an ice-cream-like tub. Each tub contains a can of wild yellowfish tuna, a delicious bag of crunchy mix-ins, and a spork to mix it all together, but no one could tell that from the launch packaging.

SCOUT asked us to redesign the packaging of their Seafood Snacks to help people understand the product, encourage them to try it, and fall in love with it.

The Insights

• Clarity is king. Listing the contents on the front of the pack, along with clear icons, and naming the product a SNACK KIT made it easy to understand this tub contains “all you need” for a delicious, healthy snack.
• People love tuna, but they don’t love seafood. Changing the name from SEAFOOD SNACKS to TUNA SNACK KITS instantly raised appeal and cued that there were multiple items inside the tub.
• People crave crunch. Crunchy foods are trending because they’re fun and satisfying. We changed the flavor names to highlight the crunch: Chile Jalapeño → Jalapeño Crunch; Chili Crisp → Chili Crunch; Za’atar → Herb Crunch, and added artfully crafted ingredient photography to add crunchy appetite appeal.
• People prioritize healthy protein. With 23 grams of protein, SCOUT snacks had an excellent nutrition story, but the packaging obscured it.
• People want deliciously crafted food, not big food. We had to tantalize taste buds to get people to try and keep the craft appeal that sets SCOUT apart.

The Big Creative Idea: SHOW & TELL

To get people to understand and try the Tuna Snack Kits, we had to appeal to their inner kid: get their attention and make it as easy as possible for them to explore, learn, and buy.

Key Takeaways

• Disruptive innovation requires clarity: When you have a radically different innovation, your communication must be telegraphic. For SCOUT, we had to start from scratch, changing the name to Tuna Snack KIT and visualizing the contents.
• Activate those taste buds: Taste appeal will always be the number one decision driver for food. Get creative and figure out how to make it ownable for your brand.
• Hierarchy Matters – Be relentless to get it right: The brand should be first in the hierarchy but then be crystal clear on the order of form, flavor, and benefits that will drive purchase. Less is often more. Many brands fail by trying to communicate too much.