Oatly
Wow No Cow
The Golden Thread
Problem: We cannot outspend dairy. We have to out-weird them. If we act like a category of one, we become impossible to ignore and impossible to copy.
Tension: Curious progressives want to make better choices but do not want to feel preachy or sacrifice enjoyment.
Position: For people who want plant-based without the sanctimony, Oatly makes sustainability fun because it refuses to take itself seriously.
Platform: Be the weird friend in the dairy aisle. Use packaging as media. Say things competitors would never say.
Definer
The Brief: Oatly needed to break out of health food stores and into mainstream consciousness. The budget was tiny.
Problem Reframe: We cannot outspend dairy. We have to out-weird them. If we act like a category of one, we become impossible to ignore and impossible to copy.
Category Convention: Plant-based brands often apologise for not being the real thing, or over-claim health benefits in earnest, worthy tones.
Targeter
Audience: Curious Progressives
Tension: They want to make better choices but do not want to feel preachy or sacrifice enjoyment. They are suspicious of brands that try too hard.
Positioner
Position Statement: For people who want plant-based without the sanctimony, Oatly is the oat milk that makes sustainability fun because it refuses to take itself seriously.
We Are Not: Worthy. Apologetic. Health-lecturing. Trying to be milk.
Strategist
Direction: Be the weird friend in the dairy aisle. Use packaging as media. Say things competitors would never say. Make people smile before they buy.
Forge: Territory Exploration
Absurdist Honesty
Self-deprecating copy. Odd admissions. Anti-marketing marketing.
Feel: Winking, self-aware, cult-building
Packaging as Media
Every carton is a billboard. Long copy. Easter eggs.
Feel: Readable, surprising, collectible
Confrontational Charm
Calling out dairy. Taking on haters. Owning controversy.
Feel: Punk, polarising, loyalty-building
What The Creatives Made
Packaging covered in quirky copy. A Super Bowl ad with the CEO singing badly. Billboards that said "It's like milk but made for humans." The brand became a personality, not a product.
"Wow no cow."
Why It Worked
- Made zero-budget feel like a creative choice, not a constraint
- Polarising tone built intense loyalty among fans and free media from haters
- Exclusions banned earnestness and health claims, forcing creative invention
- Turned packaging into the primary media channel