Midnight Oil – Alavuden

Client: Alavuden Öljynpuristamo Oy

Brief: To create an award-worthy brand and narrative that would allow us to enter the Lidl export competition, that will help us grow our export market.

Solution: We looked to create a unique narrative that would inform our visual brand. Using the geographical location we developed “Midnight Oil” the only rapeseed oil to be harvested under the Finnish midnight sun, this name not only informed our creative but was also developed to make consumers take a second look and hopefully discover something new as they peruse the aisles.

Tasked with positioning Alavuden’s Midnight Oil rapeseed oil, the Masters of Brands set to work creating a brand which tells the elusive story of how the oil is grown and harvested.

You see, this is a story set on the shore of Lake Alavuden in Finland. Here, 25% of Finland’s territory lies north of the Arctic Circle. Its proximity to the North Pole means that every summer the sun doesn’t set properly for 60 consecutive days.

This natural phenomenon – with constant direct sunlight for the best part of two months – results in a soil which is richer in nutrients and minerals. It makes for higher quality maturing of the rapeseed, and a better yield. It makes for the world’s only midnight oil.

Whilst this fantastic story pretty much sells itself, we wanted to help bring it to life, and see it told across multiple platforms.

So we gave it the mystical feel of a fable. This was a story so rich it could almost be described as folklore. Only it’s real. 100% Finnish rapeseed oil, 100% genuine backstory.

The Masters of Brands team helped tell the story of the oil’s production, sitting consumers down as if reading them a fairy tale.

From the bottle itself, to accompanying video, we created a fantasy-style brand narrative with exceptional visuals to bring this story to life. After all, some facts are stranger than fiction.