- Charaiveti
- Posts
- Unpack It with Me– The Whole Truth Brand
Unpack It with Me– The Whole Truth Brand
A Series where we decode marketing of brands
Diksha Kalra
November 20, 2025
At this point, the marketing of ‘The whole truth’ brand is talk of the town. Their every other video is going viral and every other campaign is creating a buzz. They are challenging the OG marketer, Zomato.
This made me decode their marketing and see what they are doing right which we can learn from and repeat. So, let’s unpack it with me!
1) The Core Story — what the brand claims to stand for
What they say: TWT’s positioning is literally built on transparency: “Real food is flawed. (But it tastes great!)” and packaging that calls out what’s actually inside (e.g., this bar contains dates/ the sugar is from dates). That blunt, almost cheeky honesty is the brand’s soul.
They emphasize being honest and not healthy (not that they aren’t healthy, they just don’t market themselves as healthiest brand) because the market is already full of brands claiming to be healthy and one more brand wouldn’t have made any difference so taking the honesty route is their differentiator.
Why it matters: Their emotional promise of honesty converts suspicion into trust (you’re buying a value, not just a product).
Takeaway for other brands: The story of ‘Clean label’ is repeated a zillion times everywhere in the brand. In the brand name to the smallest of the details.
Taken from their website
It shows up in the smallest things — even stating ‘this is Barry’. The reinforcement stays the same that we tell everything.
Brands should note that your core message isn’t a one time thing. It needs to shows up in every part of your communication. Your positioning needs to be so strong that it shows up in every step of the way.
2) Positioning — where they stand in the market
Why it matters: This “honest premium” slot helps them charge a premium while keeping credibility with health-conscious urban buyers.
Takeaway for other brands: Pick a clear positioning lane and stick to it. Your look, feel, packaging, and language should all reinforce the same message. When your identity is sharp, customers know exactly who you are and where you fit.
3) Messaging — the words and tone they use to win
How they speak: Direct, slightly snarky, consumer-first.
Repeated patterns: “no preservatives,” “no artificial sweeteners,” “we list every ingredient.”
Their packaging is built as short, readable statements (not marketing laundry lists). You can literally read the ingredient argument on the wrapper. The ingredients are usually understandable by any layman, so, no scientific names are used for cleanability of it.
Why it works: It frames the brand as a friend who ‘calls out’ industry BS that builds emotional alignment with an audience tired of marketing euphemisms.
Takeaway for other brands: TWT has figured out the brand archetype (personality) for them. TWT is someone who cares about you, so they says things with blunt honesty sometimes.
Imagine Ranveer Singh and Amir Khan. They both have a strong personality but both are very different.
When I think of Ranveer Singh, I think energetic, he will be someone who will say to strangers– Yo yo boss, kya chal raha hai?
When I think of Amir khan, I think calmness, he will be someone who will not say– Hi Sir, how are you? While meeting you for the first time.
So, every brand has a different brand archetype. Find yours, how it speaks, behaves and acts, so that you get the messaging right.
4) Content strategy — how they build trust, educate & create punchy moments
What they do: They have a strong hold on founder-led marketing. They do Founder content (interviews, explainer videos) + long-form posts (blog/“Truth” content) + simple social posts that call out food industry practices. They use education as marketing — explaining ingredients, testing claims and explaining why those matter.
Why it works: Educational content supports the core promise of transparency. It reinforces that they are open/clear about things.
Takeaway for other brands: The founder, Shashank Mehta, is the most active part of their content strategy. Every great marketing strategy right now includes their founders. Look at Zomato’s marketing, it includes Deepinder Goyal, their founder. All the sharks are building their personal brand.
At this point, personal branding is no longer a nice-to-have, it is becoming an essential part of marketing.
Almost every row has at least one founder-led video.
5) Product-market fit logic — why the product exists and for whom
The fit: Urban, health-curious millennials and young professionals who want clean snacks that don’t hide ingredients.
Products (bars, nut butters, muesli, dark chocolate sweetened with dates) target people who will pay more for clarity and quality.
Ingredient lists on product pages show real food ratios (e.g., peanuts 47%, dates 28%, whey 17% on some bars). That’s a clear signal to buyers.
Why it matters: The Whole Truth solves a specific pain: distrust in packaged food. That’s a strong strategic hook.
Takeaway for other brands: One hallmark of a great brand is deeply understanding its target audience and focusing exclusively on serving them.
I observed the same with TWT. Hence they are charging (high) rates which their Target group can afford easily.
Every brand should spend time and effort understanding its target group. Define them as clearly as you can. Explore as many nuances as you can. That helps you the most in strong positioning.
6) Frictions — where they lose customers
While looking for customer complaints, I found these:
(Source: Amazon reviews, Twitter comments and Reddit links.)
Prices are too high
Taste/ texture complaints
Shorter product shelf life
We don’t need it to be this healthy (Yeah, people have actually complained about this)
Price sensitivity and being too healthy are irrelevant because their target audience isn’t the one who can’t afford it. Selling products which don't have even a single ingredient that is unhealthy is their brand.
What stood out for me were texture and taste complaints because this is the big no-no for a premium brand. You can’t at any point, in any way, can give them an average experience and if that is coming from the product itself toh boss, this is as bad as it gets.
I’m sincerely hoping that TWT is working on this on an immediate basis.
Another complaint about shelf life is the most genuine and functional complaint. It is occurring due to no preservatives. I guess it is part and parcel of a clean product. If this complaint is coming from their target audience, they should definitely work on it.
Reddit user’s review
Why it matters: Trust and transparency are necessary but not sufficient. Repeat purchases depend on sensory satisfaction and perceived value.
Takeaway for other brands: There are always going to be things that your customer will complaint. There is no such thing as a ‘perfect brand’. But you must acknowledge customer issues and try to resolve them. Your product is for ‘the customer’ and their satisfaction has to be your top priority.
But also, filter out your target audience’s complaints from others. That’s how you set the right priorities.
7) Opportunities — highest-impact improvements
Offer mini SKUs or trial packs at lower price points to reduce friction for first-time buyers (boost trial).
Introduce more flavors. It gives options to people who were complaining about taste.
They should own up to their mess-ups. This aligns with their honest marketing and shows the audience that they’ve heard them and fixed what wasn’t working. For example, if they improve the product’s shelf life, they can run a campaign saying, This was the issue and here’s how we tackled it.
A win-win for both the brand and the customer.
8) Takeaways for other brands
What stood out for me in their brand positioning is:
1) One strong message: Honesty is their differentiator and their whole marketing is based on the foundation of it.
Every brand should have one differentiating factor and that should become their core message.
2) Strong understanding of Target audience: TWT understands their core audience very strongly and their moves are directly for them.
Brand should really spend their time and energy in deeply understanding the target segment. Trust me, it will make a difference in your brand positioning.
3) Consistent execution: TWT has not once broken their character of honesty. It shows up in product, design, communication, pricing, founder voice and across every other thing.
Having a strong message, having a target group for that message and then consistent execution is what completes that whole circle.
Brand should not stop at the second point, take it to the third to really hit the target.
That’s it from my side this time. I’ll be back with another brand next month.
Do let me your thoughts on this, I’d love to hear them.
Until then, let’s keep moving forward, just as the word Charaiveti tells us to!