• Better-for-you cereal brand Magic Spoon has refreshed its brand portfolio.
• The refresh, by Hart Brands, creates a consistent and cohesive system that adds recognizability and cohesion to Magic Spoon’s brand identity.

Magic Spoon launched in 2019 with the seemingly incredible promise of delivering the taste of sugary breakfast cereals we coveted as kids, reconfigured with a macros upgrade that was keto-friendly, low-carb, and high in protein. Launching as a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand, with heavy advertising on podcasts and YouTube, Magic Spoon became a hit, despite costing around ten bucks a box, and quickly expanded its range to include other cereal-adjacent products like protein oatmeal, granola, toaster pastries, and snack bars.

With such rapid growth and expansion, the brand identity became disjointed. To restore consistency and give the brand a fresh coat of paint, Magic Spoon turned to Hart Brands for a refresh.

“Our priority was to create one cohesive and recognizable portfolio,” Hart says. “We retained the logo, gradient, and illustrated characters, but gave each a clearer role. The unifying gradient creates a stronger presence at shelf; a simplified order of information prioritizes protein while accommodating benefits such as fiber and low sugar; and the illustration system brings together navigation, appetite appeal and Magic Spoon’s character-driven world.”

Perhaps the biggest change consumers will notice is the massive bowl of cereal on the front of the new boxes. When Magic Spoon launched, its biggest selling point was its healthy attributes tied to a Saturday morning cartoon vibe, but now that it’s been in the market for a while, the packaging in physical stores has to convince consumers to pick it up and put it in their IRL cart. It makes sense to showcase the product and quickly communicate that Magic Spoon is breakfast cereal. And while it might go without saying that, yes, they put cereal in the cereal aisle, appetite appeal is strong, and it never hurts to show off the tasty goods.

What’s more, the change still aligns with the “we’re like kids’ cereal” approach, a common design choice in that category, even for healthier brands.

“Ultimately, consumers don’t read. They recognize. Because Magic Spoon already had an established and distinctive identity, this significant change still needed to feel familiar,” Fred says. “Its color, brand mark, and characters, expressed in new ways, allowed us to evolve the system without losing the brand’s essence.”

The brand’s new packaging is rolling out now to retailers like Target.