Date posted:
Peter Cox, Managing Director 
We were in our sixth year as a business but we simply were not where we wanted to be. We had worked hard to create a reputation for quality with leading celebrity chefs and prestigious dining venues but our venture into the consumer market was unsuccessful. Despite developing a product that ticked all of the boxes research told us to tick, our product was in the process of being deleted from our largest retail account. At the same time, growth in the restaurant and café business had slowed and preliminary ventures into the export market had proved fruitless.
It was about this time I heard Michael Neale, Managing Director and Principal Consultant from Literally Brilliant, speaking at the 2015 South Australian Food Forum. Right at that moment I thought we needed some top level marketing input in our business and that Literally Brilliant was perfectly placed to help.
Literally Brilliant proposed a long-term strategic marketing approach rather than a short-term project approach. This was a big step for us but we took a leap of faith and moved ahead as they suggested. In return, Literally Brilliant invested heavily in learning our business and gaining genuine insight into all of the marketing issues we were facing.
Literally Brilliant took us through two key processes that made all the difference.
The first was their TenTwoSix© model. This was a process of helping us to think about what we wanted to achieve over the next ten years in very broad terms. Once we understood that, it was easier to see what our objectives should be for the next two years and hence the priorities for the next six months.
The other key process followed on; developing our brand story. Central to our brand story development was the reconciliation of what our customers were saying about us with the narrative of our mission which came from the TenTwoSix©.
In the brand story development process, we discovered that our celebrity chefs and restaurant customers had a totally different story to tell than our retail customers. Literally Brilliant helped us to understand that we needed to be consistent in our brand for both restaurant and retail customers.
This was a significant strategic refocus for our business. In many ways, it has changed us at our core; but changed us to be more true to ourselves.
We adopted a new brand story and key message strings that now reflect everything we do. This simple set of words help us keep focus on our essence giving the whole team a great sense of clarity of purpose.
“The Terroir of our ingredients, our crafting techniques, our commitment to innovation and our passion to indulge our customers come together to make a taste and texture that’s uniquely Gelista.” 
Our brand narrative was clear for the first time in our history. That made other marketing decisions so much easier to make.
We changed our visual identity and our packaging – tidying up the logo in the process. The retail offering changed; even the flavour profiles, to reflect the premium position we hold in the minds of leading chefs. The 570ml Gelista jar was a direct result and has been highly successful.
Outwardly, our visual identity and new packaging would be the most visible example of the huge positive impact Literally Brilliant has had on our business. The truth is, what they have done is so much more fundamental and strategic. It has been about us rediscovering our essence; finding our Brand Narrative.