Strawbuddy came to Manifest with a brilliant idea; they wanted to create sustainable, natural straws out of Swedish reed. However, they needed Manifest to create a brilliant brand to bring the idea to life.

We developed a new name, brand proposition and visual identity and subsequently, Raws was born. To launch to market, Manifest created a live activation, launch event and media announcement. Since then, we’ve continued to work with the brand on its strategy, global expansion, crowdfunding initiatives and more.

The Challenge

Create a brand and proposition which would bring to life its reed straw innovation in a way that would engage and excite people.

The Approach

We needed to articulate the brand’s key mission: to reduce climate change by helping people to switch to a sustainable alternative to plastic straws and single-use plastic more broadly.

We developed a full brand manifesto including architecture, proposition, mission, essence brand guidelines and tone of voice.

The name Raws was coupled with the tagline, ‘Straws that don’t suck’ to give it an impactful, direct yet playful tone. The bright and playful visual identity was coupled with language that didn’t ‘plastic coat’ the facts about single-use plastic.

The launch of Raws marked an important leap forward in the war against single-use plastics. An instant hit in Sweden and beyond, this challenger brand showed how a simple idea to create a better alternative could really capture the attention of consumers.

Since launch, Manifest and Raws have worked together, developing new packaging, a new website and a crowdfunding initiative called ‘The Fellow-sip’ to take Raws to the next level.