Packaging Perspectives Podcast
Expanding Brands from Direct-to-Consumer into Retail
Dan Gladden Image courtesy of Interact Brands
Interact Brands recently collaborated with sports protein bar company BUILT on a brand redesign—a project that earned Interact Brands the Top Prize in the 2025 Designalytics Effectiveness Awards.
Interact Brands was recognized for helping BUILT—originally launched as a direct-to-consumer brand—expand into retail. Dan Gladden, Executive Creative Director at Interact Brands, gave us a behind-the-scenes look at this successful transition.
BUILT developed what Gladden described as a “cult following” online as a DTC brand, but the move to retail required a different approach.
“The issue and really the challenge in hand when coming to interact was in a category that is pretty saturated, right? Protein, sports, nutrition—the bar aisle itself,” Gladden said. “We had to take a step back and really embed what makes BUILT different than anyone else in that category. What do they stand for? And how do we clearly communicate that to new consumers?”
Gladden added: “The big thing that set BUILT apart from all the other kind of protein-forward bars out there was the puff experience—that lovely light airiness, but also the satisfaction of the taste and the appetite appeal as well.”
We also spoke to Gladden about the importance of both primary packaging and secondary packaging in the rebrand rollout.
“The outer box itself gave us this great canvas to really create a strong architecture and also create that magnetism and that entry. And then the bar itself—the individual wrapper was the deal sealer,” Gladden said.
Listen to the full interview with Dan Gladden below:
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