Bloom Thinks: Making Function More Forceful Part 1

The appeal of functional has never been stronger.

Why is that?

And how can brands promise function, without feeling functional?

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It’s strange how different essential nutrients have been trending so hotly. All our bodies need a steady supply of things like fibre and protein, all the time. But each has taken a turn as the hot nutrient of the moment, first proteinmaxxing, now fibremaxxing. The cycle keeps turning. It’s a longterm shift in what people want from brands, across many categories.

We’re seeing it on the ground. Right now we’re working on multiple innovation projects whose driving hook is function. The New Consumer/ Coefficient Capital’s midyear report finds a third of consumers say they’re in “optimisation mode – trying to get an edge through healthier choices and smart shortcuts.”

Why is the appeal of getting an edge increasing so steeply? Because we live in uncertain, anxious times. When we’re not feeling so confident we prioritise essential needs. Defence. Protection. Strength. Being well, seems like it’s coming before living well. It looks like a back-to-basics buying behaviour. But basic isn’t the whole story. Especially when functional often comes with a premium price.

Since humanity’s earliest days survival and status have been our most influential motivations. Our big brains grew to compensate for our vulnerable bodies. We used our thinking power to make tools. Pointy sticks to hunt animals bigger than us. Fire to make their meat more nourishing. Farming implements to grow plants when the meat ran out.

Tools like these went beyond function. They conferred status. The best hunters became leaders. The best-fed tribes rose above the rest. The better tools you had, the closer you got to the front of the group.

In Will Storr’s book The Status Game he explains how we’ve always told underdog stories to ourselves to assert control over life’s inevitable chaos. We’re always the hero in the narrative, overcoming bad luck and adversity. So we’ll pay to avoid the pain of loss, and enjoy the pleasure of the win, however small. The ultimate function of the tools we choose is to achieve these ends.

Brands are also tools we invented. They exist to help consumers navigate choice. They explain quickly and clearly what a product promises to do for us; how they’ll make life simpler, easy or better. But function alone isn’t enough. It needs to promise that status-elevating win.

In the current climate brands that offer both functional benefit and status have a strong advantage. Younger generations are particularly drawn to them. And they’re choosing them over legacy brands that offer blunter benefits, in less status-enhancing ways.

In the next part we’ll make the theory real with some live examples from food, drink, beauty and fashion.