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Case Study · Food & Beverage Brand
Gourmet Popcorn,
Seriously Done.
Client: Craving Kernels — Gourmet Popcorn & Confections
The Client
A Popcorn Shop With Serious Ambition
Craving Kernels isn't your average popcorn stand. With an ever-growing menu of gourmet flavors — from caramel and cheese to decadent specialty blends — plus fudge, cookies, and confections, this is a brand that deserved creative work to match its craft.
When they came to Beefy Marketing, they needed more than a website. They needed a creative partner who could bring their fun, indulgent personality to life across every touchpoint — digital, physical, and animated.
The Scope
Every Layer, Covered
We took on the full stack of creative work: a custom Shopify storefront built for conversion, a suite of original hand-crafted illustrations and animated GIFs for use across the web and social, a t-shirt design that became a fan favorite, and ongoing Fractional CMO strategy to tie it all together.
The result is a brand that pops — in every sense of the word. Warm, playful, craveable, and impossible to scroll past.
Custom Illustration & Animation
Characters That Come Alive.
Every animation was drawn and produced entirely in-house. Three original animated GIFs — a signature popcorn character, a vintage popcorn cart, and a shipping animation — bring the brand personality to life wherever they're used.
Character Illustration
The Popcorn Character
Scene Illustration
The Popcorn Cart
E-Commerce Animation
Shipping & Delivery
All three animations are fully original illustrations — concept, character design, and animation produced by Beefy Marketing.
Website Design & Development
A Shopify Store Built to Convert.
The Craving Kernels website is a full Shopify storefront with product collections, bundles, staff picks, and a retail-meets-e-commerce experience that puts the product front and center — with personality baked in at every scroll.
cravingkernels.com
cravingkernels.com/products/ranch
E-Commerce
Full Shopify Build
Custom theme, product collections, bundle builders, and checkout optimization — built to sell.
UX Design
Product-First Layout
Flavor collections, staff picks, bundle deals, and a physical store section all designed for clarity.
Brand Integration
On-Brand Every Pixel
Custom animated GIFs, brand colors, typography, and photography direction woven throughout.
Apparel Design
Keeping It Cheesy.
T-Shirt Design
"Keeping it Cheesy"
A hand-lettered design that perfectly captures the Craving Kernels spirit — fun, unapologetically bold, and dripping in personality. The piece blends fluid script lettering with chunky display type, popcorn illustrations, and a cheese drip that practically makes your mouth water.
Designed to live on merch, in-store signage, and social media — this kind of brand extension turns customers into walking advocates.
Hand-Lettered Typography
Script and display lettering custom-drawn for the brand, no fonts
Original Illustration
Floating popcorn kernel illustrations and the signature cheese drip drawn from scratch
Print-Ready Art
Delivered in all formats for screen printing, DTG, and digital use
Fractional CMO
Executive Marketing Without the Overhead.
Beyond creative execution, Beefy Marketing serves as Craving Kernels' fractional Chief Marketing Officer — embedded in the business, owning strategy, and making sure every creative asset serves a larger commercial goal.
01
Marketing Strategy & Direction
Setting priorities, owning the calendar, aligning campaigns to business goals — top-level oversight without a full-time salary
02
Brand Voice & Positioning
Defining how Craving Kernels communicates across every channel — online, in-store, and through packaging
03
Campaign Planning & Execution
Seasonal promotions, product launches, bundle campaigns, and local events — planned and executed with full creative support
04
Vendor & Channel Coordination
Managing relationships with social platforms, email tools, ad networks, and fulfillment — so the client doesn't have to
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A Fractional CMO gives a growing brand access to senior marketing leadership at a fraction of the cost. We think like an owner, act like a partner, and execute like a full agency — because that's exactly what we are.
Beefy Marketing — Fractional CMO Services
Deliverables at a Glance
What We Built.
3
Custom Animations
Original illustrated GIFs — character, cart, and shipping
1
Shopify Storefront
Full custom e-commerce build with collections, bundles & retail
1
T-Shirt Design
"Keeping it Cheesy" — hand-lettered, print-ready apparel art
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Fractional CMO
Ongoing strategic marketing leadership embedded in the business
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Custom Shopify Theme
Built and configured from scratch to match the Craving Kernels brand and conversion goals
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3 Animated GIFs
Popcorn character, vintage cart scene, and shipping animation — all original illustration & motion work
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Apparel Design
"Keeping it Cheesy" t-shirt — hand-lettered and illustrated, screen print and DTG ready
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Marketing Strategy
Fractional CMO oversight including campaign planning, brand voice, channel strategy, and vendor management
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Product Merchandising
Collection structure, bundle architecture, and staff picks presentation designed for maximum sales impact
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Retail + E-Commerce Integration
Physical store presence integrated with the online storefront — a single unified brand experience
Services Delivered