Brand Spotlight — ONO Protein Oats (Marketing Case Study)

We love to showcase new health and fitness brands that are doing exciting things in the industry. As part of our ‘brand spotlight’ series, we’re highlighting up-and-coming wellness companies and diving into how they market their products (plus practical tips for applying their approaches to your own business). 

In this article – we look at ONO Protein Overnight Oats, a nutrition brand that’s taking the breakfast table by storm.

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The Product

ONO make dreamy dessert-flavoured oats that are packed with 20g of protein and lions mane mushroom, a nootropic supplement. They come in an array of delicious flavours like vegan peanut butter banana split, strawberries and cream, and mocha chip. Their range offers both whey protein and vegan options, both of which are gluten-free, catering to a wide range of dietary needs.  

“Our goal was to create a drool-worthy, nutrient-dense, high protein version of an outdated and old-fashioned breakfast, that only takes 10 seconds to prep. That way you have time to actually focus on the things that matter, while still getting a fully balanced MEAL, to fuel you for the day.”

ONO Protein Oats

Why It’s Interesting

The product taps into a number of hot nutrition trends, including plant-based eating and functional health. The extra protein will be a hit with fitness-minded consumers who are looking to boost their intake pre or post workout. It’s also ideally suited to the increasing number of vegans and vegetarians who want to ensure sufficient protein intake without eating meat.

But it’s the inclusion of lions mane mushroom that really sets it apart in the healthy food space. Nootropics are a rapidly growing area of the supplement industry and sure to draw some consumers to this product. Lions mane mushroom in particular is associated with a range of potential health benefits, including cardiovascular health, brain health, and longevity. 

How They Promote The Product

ONO Protein Overnight Oats sell their products in stores and online, through their own website and Amazon. 

Social Media

Social media is a key promotional tool for the brand. They’ve amassed over 33,000 followers on Instagram where they regularly share reels about their products. Their founders are the faces of the brand and feature in many of their videos, which helps people connect with them. 

ONO uses a pretty pastel aesthetic across their social posts, website, and packaging. It’s colourful and appealing, but without distracting from the images of the oats themselves. 

Their Instagram highlights and posts contain a mix of educational, inspirational, and promotional content. They include how to prepare ONO products, showcase the variety of flavours, tell followers where to buy them, feature customer feedback, and talk about the health benefits. These (along with relevant food hashtags) all work together to build credibility and convert people from simply interested to actually buying.

Website

Their website, www.eatovernightoats.com, features an online shop and store locator, so it’s easy for people to find their nearest stockist. It looks super-smart and is built using Shopify which is a popular platform for fledgling ecommerce brands.  

You might also like… How To Start an Online Fitness Store With Shopify.

Their homepage highlights recent news (that the product’s available in Target), the range of flavours, brand philosophy, and social proof in the form of news mentions. It also features a pop-up offer of 15% discount for email subscribers. This is a great way to entice web visitors to sign up for the email list, where they can continue to nurture and market to them.

The online shop allows people to buy from them directly. They offer the option to subscribe for repeat orders or make one-off purchases, which is a smart business model. Variety bundles allow people to taste a range of different flavours before deciding on the favourite. 

As with all nutrition brands, the website includes a disclaimer about their statements not having been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This helps protect them from legal exposure and is vital for any health or supplement-related site. 

Unusually for an online brand, they don’t appear to do any content marketing. They have a grand total of six blog posts on their website, all from June 2022. They’ve clearly focused their efforts on social media and distribution partnerships, which (judging by their impressive list of stockists) is serving them well. 

Marketing Lessons for Other Nutrition Brands

So, there you have a brief overview of ONO Protein Overnight Oats and their marketing tactics. In a competitive market that’s filled with multi-billion dollar manufacturers, they’ve done a great job of establishing their small independent business. Other nutrition brands can learn from them by…

1. Ensuring they have a clear point of difference or unique selling point (e.g. Lions mane mushroom)
2. Tapping into hot trends and riding the wave of their popularity 
3. Featuring people in their marketing, rather than being a faceless brand 
4. Using a range of content in social media – inspirational, educational, and promotional
5. Having an online shop along with in-store distribution to diversify channels and maximise sales

Do you have suggestions for other health and fitness brands we should feature? Get in touch to let us know!