Mö: Rebranding Finland’s first oat dairy

Meat and dairy alternatives often opt for a challenging and rebellious tone, sometimes with a judgmental and combative edge. Marjaana and Annamari, the two founding sisters want none of the latter.

Coming from a family of dairy farmers, they know nothing is entirely black or white. Instead compelled by their own climate anxiety and urge to create change, they see value in soft power and winning people over with delicious taste and kindness.

Mö creates foods that are 100% plant-based, but also about indulgence, rather than just health claims and functional benefits. Mö needed a brand that can strike the perfect balance between activism and diplomacy and show the world that their products are just as heavenly in taste as the real dairy.

As with any good brand work, it all starts with a strategy. By way of self-discovery, Mö needed to articulate what it truly stands for.

With entrepreneurship running strong in the family and having a complementary skill set of both creative and scientific flair, the sisters are truly a dynamic duo.

It was easy for us to find the common ground, discover and define what Mö stands for. Their personal story, the wake-up to the climate crisis, the farming heritage and the will to make an impact, were a powerful source.

Through our process and with our tools, we helped Mö find the right words and visuals to express their story, resilience and charming approach. Heard and seen in all aspects of the brand.

The outcomes of the strategy work were clear values, a strong new positioning and a thorough understanding of the competitive advantages that Mö holds.

The brand story captures the inspiring journey of the sisters, how Mö came about and where it’s headed. The new brand identity translates the strategy into visual storytelling that is authentic and distinct.

At its core, Mö is about two things: Products that are 100% plant-based, yet just as rich in taste and delicious as real dairy. Mö doesn't only compete with other vegan products, but the dairy industry as a whole.

Secondly, it’s about the sisters. Their personality. Their drive to innovate and develop beautiful food from oat. Their inspiring determination to provide a climate and animal-friendly alternative and to win people over with diplomatic flair. Polarization, criticism and judgment have no place in the Mö world.

To express the themes in design, we decided to subvert and play with the pastiche of the dairy industry visuals. Build on the history of countryside dairy co-ops in Finland. Blue and off-white color scheme, use of script typography and hand-drawn ingredient illustrations.

Typography opts for center alignment, font choice and details of the 1920s. The plain color combination and nostalgic typography create a calm base, to which pencil illustrations of the ingredients add charm, deliciousness and splashes of color. All this was contrasted with bold contemporary elements, unusual for the industry, more typical of high fashion. Like the mood photography and use of an oversized contemporary logotype.

Brand Film

The Mö brand film and imagery depict the founders and their remarkable story. It celebrates their rural roots, reveals their tenacity and shows their fun-loving revolutionary spirit.

The journey of waking up to the climate crisis, taking singleminded action and enjoying the ride of their own choosing, is expressed through visually arresting scenes, exquisite fashion and poignant poetry.

We asked the sisters themselves what was the impact of our collaboration. Thank you Marjaana & Annamari!

“During the process, we were happy that we found a common understanding of the direction very quickly. All the careful base work gave us a lot of confidence to begin the visual identity work. Without putting the effort into the groundwork — values, competitive advantages, positioning — we would not have had such a strong identity to stand behind. You helped us find the right words that we had been looking for from the beginning. Words that, above everything else, made Mö stronger.

We are in love with the packaging design. It finally reflects our story, values and the diligence of our independent product development. The new identity has enabled us to operate internationally without compromising the brand’s effectiveness. Mö has been noticed especially in the Nordic countries and we proudly represent the Finnish quality and innovative food-tech industry. We are constantly developing new products and our renewed brand allows even a large product family to remain strong under one recognizable Mö brand. Mö is now on its way to people’s hearts as an approachable and inspiring vegan company.”

Since launching the new brand, the one and only pure oat dairy has been hard at work creating new delights from beautiful plant-based ingredients. The ever-popular Mö Kreikkalainen (Greek) Klassikko was gifted an herby summertime sibling, Mö Kreikkalainen Välimeren Yrtit (Mediterranean Herbs).

With strategic & creative support from team Werklig, Mö Kreikkalainen Välimeren Yrtit crowned a huge billboard and some more discreet displays. To find their way to lush summer tables across the country.