Case Study: In The Raw® Rebrand Spotlights 'Stripped-Back' Aesthetics
Sweetener brand In The Raw® has launched a unified brand identity focused on heritage, simplicity, and authenticity, featuring natural textures and a handcrafted logo. The move reflects a broader design shift away from corporate polish toward "intentional imperfection" and raw aesthetics. Social media discussions note a related trend toward neotraditional design and brutalist decor to create more memorable styles.
- The full-scale masterbrand refresh for In The Raw® was developed with the creative agency Broken Heart Love Affair and is one of the most comprehensive marketing efforts in the brand's 50-plus-year history. The goal was to unify its entire portfolio—including stevia, monk fruit, agave, and honey—under the single, trusted brand presence established by its iconic Sugar In The Raw packets. - A central element of the rebrand is a comedic video campaign that satirizes excessive marketing trends by showing an over-the-top pitch for the brand that takes the concept of "raw" too literally, before the brand itself pulls back to a simpler "do less" message. This campaign intentionally ends without a tagline to reinforce the idea that the brand name speaks for itself. - The parent company, Cumberland Packing Corp., was founded in 1945 by Benjamin Eisenstadt and originally operated as a tea bag factory before pioneering the concept of single-serving sugar packets. The Sugar In The Raw® brand was later launched in the early 1970s by the founder's son, Marvin Eisenstadt. - The shift toward raw aesthetics is a reaction against the polished, homogeneous designs that dominated the 2010s, with designers and brands now embracing raw materials and starker, function-first forms. This "anti-AI aesthetic" uses hand-drawn elements, tactile textures, and other intentional imperfections to signal human involvement and build trust in a market saturated with flawless, algorithm-generated content. - Brutalist web design, a key influence on this trend, draws from the 1950s architectural movement and prioritizes usability with features like exposed user interfaces, monospaced text, and minimal color palettes to focus on content over ornamentation. While not suitable for all brands, it offers a way for creative professionals and disruptive ventures to create memorable, unconventional user experiences. - The related "neotraditional" trend involves reinterpreting historical and heritage design elements with contemporary sensibilities, blending different cultural aesthetics to create something new yet familiar. In practice, this can be seen in the use of lush, dramatic colors, intricate detailing, and influences from Art Nouveau, which itself was inspired by Eastern Ukiyo-e woodblock prints.
