QNT gets a makeover!

On the occasion of the rebranding of QNT, a short FAQ was organised with the son of the founder, Alex Debecq! We asked him a few questions to find out more about what goes on behind the scenes!

Where did this need to renew the QNT universe, to rebrand, come from?

Our field of activity is changing and is no longer solely focused on high-level athletes. We were seeing more and more emerging brands offering more lifestyle products. With a more lifestyle proposition, they also came into the sports market so we realised that we were losing out by staying solely segmented in sports. After that, QNT is about 30 years old and it was time to give it a little brush up in an intelligent way!

How did you identify the shortcomings of the old brand ?

We got help from an agency for this rebranding because doing it all in-house would have been a bad choice! The first shortcomings in my opinion would be the fact that the employees didn't really know which product was made for what, same for the ranges where it was quite confusing. Even I sometimes didn't really know which product was meant for which kind of person exactly. Basically, based on external demands, we had made our products to meet them. There was a lack of consistency among the ranges. Each range was very strong to the detriment of QNT, so we wanted to reverse the trend by having a strong QNT brand with slightly weaker sub-ranges. We also wanted to make QNT products easily recognisable.

Can we see this as the first signs of the company passing from father to son? Is it a sign of the beginning of the succession ?

Absolutely! The idea for the rebranding came from my brother 4 years ago. He originally proposed the light digest range and it was a real battle with my father, because at the time he thought that light digest was really off-topic, that we had to stay within the bodybuilding theme. In the end, he agreed and it worked out well. The same goes for the rebranding, he wasn't too keen on it. I did a lot of research into agencies for our rebranding. I found two and my father chose the one he liked best. Gradually my dad was leaning more towards the "we're going to change everything!" side of things, so I think that's clearly the basis of a generational transition, yes.

What were your sources of inspiration for this new universe ?

We were taking as an example the new brands that are entering the market, with a lot of young people at the head of them. This has brought a new trend and they have democratised proteins a lot by having a really healthy communication. So we were inspired by them in terms of communication.

What's in store for us with this rebranding? Is the brand just changing its logo or can we expect a more drastic change ?

We are changing everything! It's not just the packaging that's changing. We are also changing the way we are, the way we communicate. Basically, it's not the same brand anymore. Our objective in 2023 is to develop all the snacks, expand the Liife range, etc. Also, we want to help people find quality products and chase away sugar-filled products.

How would you define your new identity? What does the "Q" you put in front of it mean ?

It's on! We want the "Q" to become an icon! The "QNT", we put it at the beginning because it would be a transition, but it would be a bit like the Nike comma where now you only see the comma. What's important is that it looks like the On/Off button, and QNT has made it their own via the font, shape, etc. We really want to make this icon central to the communication, to make it clear that this is a new brand, etc.

If you had to describe the new brand universe, how would you do it in a few words? (talk about the values on which we built the new identity + the desire to become a coach for consumers)

A spirit of coaching, that is to say helping people and accompanying them in their objectives.

What is new about the products? Are there any new products ?

There will be new products because we want to develop the brand more and more and especially the Liife range, so snacks, milkshakes, etc. There will be other products coming as well.

Don't you have any fears about losing some customers with the rebranding? This is a fairly big change within the brand, some customers might feel lost and lose track with the new branding.

This is indeed the number one fear, but we are looking to the future and we didn't want to be a brand that didn't know how to change at the right time. For us, the objective is to grow and keep our historical consumers. We have done our best to ensure that these and new consumers find themselves in QNT.

Posted in: Lifestyle

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