Vitasoy goes on branding evolution drive in Hong Kong

Vitasoy, the iconic soymilk brand rooted in Hong Kong for over 80 years, is making a significant move to evolve its branding. With the branding evolution, it is focusing on reviving its plant-based heritage.

According to the brand, the new branding is to resonate with modern consumers’ desire for a healthier and nutritious lifestyle, with the campaign platform “Planting Goodness Every Day”. The new brand equity stamp a branding mnemonic device that holds the various stories and product strengths, set in daily moments including social gaherings, workouts, and home cultivation.

The campaign is created by dentsu international Hong Kong to represent Vitasoy’s wide portfolio of products including Classic, Calci-Plus and VitaOat. The Vitasoy brand has been available in Hong Kong since the 1940s to serve affordable and plant-based soy milk for everyone. With the campaign, the brand wants to sync with the needs of contemporary consumers and to remind them that greater goods are achieved through daily small practices.

The “Planting goodness every day” campaign visualised Vitasoy’s brand personality to showcase its portfolio of plant-based products, from its most iconic range of Vitasoy classic products to its functional line of Calci-Plus range, to its latest new product, VitaOat.

 “We continue to be poised for growth at all times, including the future,” said David Kim, group CMO at Vitasoy International. “We are happy to reintroduce what we have cared about since the beginning as a tribute to our past and bring forward our heritage so to build a better future with our consumers together.

Simone Tam, CEO, dentsu international Hong Kong said, “Knowing the brand has a rich and devoted heritage, we are happy to revive it and modernise it, so the brand stays relevant and connected with the young generation through its wide range of plant-based products.

Vitasoy had a rough year in 2021 with its profits dipping due to the fall in sales in Mainland China during the first half of the financial year ended 30 September (H1 2021). This was coupled with the reduction of pandemic-related subsidies from governments. More specifically, profit from Vitasoy's operations dropped by 95% to HK$32.8 million as a result of the fall in Mainland China sales, exacerbated by the reduction of pandemic related subsidies from governments as COVID-19 was gradually brought under control.

Its profit was also impacted by the reduction in advertising and promotion spending versus the same period last year. On the other hand, Vitasoy's Hong Kong operations grew by 3%, with convenience store channels recovering and eCommerce expanding. The group’s Vitaland tuckshop business in schools has improved although the COVID-19 restrictions have not been completely lifted. Profit from Hong Kong operations dropped by 42%, mainly resulting from significantly lower government subsidies and higher investment spending to support anticipated peak season demand compared to the previous interim period.

The sales dip in China was also due to the unexpected turbulence the brand faced in July 2021 when an unauthorised internal memo containing inappropriate content was widely circulated among social media. This resulted in repercussions from customers in China against the company, including the removal of Vitasoy's products from the shelves in various sales channels across China for the entire month.

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