One of the coolest parts about working at Hive is learning about the projects – both tangible and intangible – that customers are able to execute because of our platform. And when we spoke with Vega, a leading plant-based nutrition company, we knew their use case could help guide other Hive teams who also focus on innovating and bringing new products to market – whatever those products may be.

But first, let’s talk about the Vega team. Passionate about making delicious, plant-based nutrition that’s good for the planet and those who live on it, Vega has been helping consumers improve their health and performance for over 20 years. Vega creates delicious plant-based products suitable for all activity levels and goals – whether it’s getting more greens in your diet or helping replenish your body after a workout. While Vega began with protein powders, the organization is always seeking new, innovative ways to pack more plants into your diet.

When we talked with Carolyn Derynck, Vega’s Senior Manager of Innovation Go-To-Market, she emphasized that innovating and launching new products isn’t as simple as just coming up with a cool new idea. It’s also about staying on top of trends and making sure the brand’s image evolves alongside the product lines. And to stake its claim as a leader in today’s plant-based nutrition space, Vega wanted to give its products a new look and feel. From social media graphics to the protein powder packaging itself, Vega’s brand refresh reflects the innovation that sets Vega apart from other brands on the shelf.

So how did Vega carry out this massive brand refresh? Read on to learn how Vega utilized Hive to roll out new branding and packaging for over 150 products. 

150 products, one Parent project

The Brand Refresh project is one of the largest undertakings Vega has done in Hive thus far, containing over 150 new artwork designs for every powder product in Vega’s portfolio. 

To manage everything in one place, Vega created a single “Brand Refresh” Parent project with corresponding Child projects and Action cards for each product that needed new artwork. This project was built manually (not from a template) because it’s not a project they do on a regular basis. Hive’s customizations and flexibility made it easy to create the project exactly how they need it. 

PMOs are responsible for creating and managing these child projects. While each child project is different and requires some manual building, the team has created Action card templates for its most common processes. This allowed them to add Action templates and build around them wherever applicable. 

Improving clarity and collaboration 

Vega has weekly team meetings for each project. Hive has completely changed the way they collaborate on projects in between those meetings. Before Hive, they used various tools, including Excel spreadsheets, to outline the project workflow. This often led to confusion about what happens next and who was responsible for working on what.

Now I show up to weekly meetings and there have been conversations happening through the comment section and people have gone in and completed their tasks. Because people understand how to use the tool, understand what they owe, and know what’s coming up, meetings are much simpler. – Carolyn Derynck

Now with Hive, Vega team members have a clear view of the workflow and understand what deliverables they owe and what is coming up next. Instead of showing up at weekly meetings with questions, the team has conversations throughout the week via Action card comments. Individuals can also complete tasks as they finish them, completely changing the focus of those weekly meetings from status updates to planning ahead. 

We use comments in Action cards as a chat feature in a way. If the update I’m going to ask you for is tied to a specific task, it’s great to have the request in the same place where your deliverable is owed. – Carolyn Derynck

Proofing and approvals 

Changing the creative assets for 150+ products requires input and approval from many different individuals across the organization. Hive’s proofing and approvals functionality has been a game-changer for Vega because it brings the entire brand refresh process into one place. 

I feel like my creative partners would talk all day about how much they love proofing and approvals. When we talk about a full brand refresh and managing 150 plus new artworks, it has been an absolute godsend to be able to have everything integrated in one tool. – Carolyn Derynck

In the past, Vega used an external tool to proof artwork. This was just one more tool that the creative team was using, adding more work for them and contributing to the overall disconnected workflow. Now with Hive, creatives can get feedback on multiple rounds of proofs, add annotations to design mockups, and request approval from internal or external team members in one single Hive Action card. Even better? They can simply scroll down in the Action card to see related comments and file attachments associated with that piece of artwork.

Conclusion 

With the help of Hive, Vega is managing its largest brand refresh project smoother than ever before. With Action cards as the single source of truth for each new product design, Vega is keeping all of its processes in one place and maximizing collaboration across teams. Instead of juggling multiple tools and feeling bogged down by complicated processes, Vega can now focus on the fun things – marketing its fresh, new look and staking its claim as the leading plant-based nutrition brand on the market. 

We live and breathe out of Hive now in so many different ways. As a business, we’ve shown so much potential and have a whole new way of working. It would be chaos without Hive. – Carolyn Derynck

???? Want to learn more? Check out this case study to learn how Vega also manages end-to-end product development in Hive.