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We want this, Vivantis: SNASK rebrands the European beauty giant
The rebranding of Vivantis by SNASK illustrates the importance of creating an emotional connection with customers to foster brand loyalty. By shifting the focus from mere product offerings to a relatable brand identity with the slogan 'Hello Gorgeous,' Vivantis successfully transformed its image and increased sales by 30%, demonstrating that a strong brand strategy can drive consumer engagement beyond price competition.
The Brand Identity: Say the name out loud: Vivantis. Now faster. Vi-vant-is. “We want this.” That phonetic coincidence became the starting point for everything Stockholm-based creative agency SNASK built when they took on the rebrand of one of Europe’s largest beauty e-commerce platforms, specialising in the Eastern European market. The wordmark has been crafted to emphasise exactly how the name reads when spoken aloud, splitting the letters to lean into that double meaning. It’s a rather clever piece of verbal design, but the deeper challenge for the project was structural.
Vivantis had built a successful commerce operation across Eastern Europe, yet the brand itself carried no weight. Customers chose it for price and product availability, then moved on without a second thought. There was no loyalty, no emotional connection, no reason to come back beyond the next discount. SNASK’s brief was to change that, starting from strategy and tone of voice through to the full identity, campaign production and a flagship store concept. The discovery process revealed a brand that had been looking in the wrong direction.
“Their brand was more focused on pleasing millennials rather than trend-setting Gen Z,” Freddie Öst, Founder at SNASK, shares. “But the challenge ran even deeper as they never really created a lifestyle brand and were more focused on product and service rather than brand building. And that’s not how loyalty is built, as product and service is easy to copy.” Vivantis had all the commercial infrastructure but none of the personality.
The rebrand needed to give customers something worth being loyal to. SNASK’s answer arrived through a deceptively simple concept: ‘Hello Gorgeous.’ The idea positions Vivantis as a kind of best friend – the one who tells you the truth, hypes you up and never lets you leave the house second-guessing yourself. The phrase became the organising principle for the identity, informing everything from art direction to in-store signage.
“The idea was quite simple, as many of their customers turned to them for not only product but also advice and support, and so focusing on making Vivantis their best friend became a natural choice,” notes Erik Kockum, Creative Director at SNASK. The communication concept was built to inject positivity, fun and encouragement into a brand that had previously operated on pure transaction. The art direction makes this relationship tangible through a specific camera technique.
By placing the camera inside the mirror, SNASK created imagery where Vivantis looks directly back at the viewer – your no-nonsense best friend catching your eye in the reflection. It’s a small directorial decision that anchors the entire visual tone. For the launch campaign, the agency produced both photography and film, building sets that extended the identity into three-dimensional space. “The art direction came naturally from the visual identity,” Kockum explains. “We built sets that harmonised and further pushed the identity.
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The article discusses a significant rebranding effort of a European beauty giant, highlighting effective strategies that can inspire brand professionals, making it impactful and relevant, while the approach taken is somewhat novel but not entirely groundbreaking.