The challenge
Danone faced fundamental challenges to the dairy portfolio as a whole that was denting growth for Danone Core, its flagship brand. With a lack of clear superiority versus Private Label, an increasingly distant target market, and inconsistency in the portfolio architecture, the brand faced challenges on all fronts.
The category itself was in flux. Consumers were rethinking their relationship with dairy — questioning nutrition credentials, seeking alternatives, and losing the emotional connection that had historically made brands like Danone indispensable. Private Label had closed the quality gap, and with it, the brand’s justification for a price premium.
The real challenge wasn’t the product. It was the story — and Danone had stopped telling it.
What we found
We started where we always start: with people. Through deep qualitative research across EMEA markets, we uncovered a rich picture of how families actually think about dairy — the moments it shows up in, the emotional role it plays, and the tensions consumers were navigating between health, pleasure, and convenience.
What emerged was a category truth that Danone had overlooked: dairy wasn’t in decline because consumers no longer wanted it. It was because the brand had stopped connecting the product to the moments and meaning that made it matter. The opportunity wasn’t to defend the category — it was to reimagine it.
What we built
Working closely with Danone’s leadership team, we developed an inspirational North Star — a clear articulation of what Danone Core could uniquely stand for in the lives of modern families. Not a tagline. A strategic platform that gave the entire organisation a shared direction for innovation, communication, and portfolio architecture.
From that North Star, we built out three distinct innovation pipelines — each designed to deliver against a different consumer need state and competitive space. These pipelines weren’t abstract frameworks. They were grounded in real product territories, positioned against specific shelf occasions, and tested for commercial viability.
Finally, we designed a portfolio architecture framework that gave Danone’s markets a clear template for how to range their products — reducing inconsistency, improving shelf standout, and making the brand easier to shop.