MET-Rx | How do you reclaim the category you invented?

30 years ago, MET-Rx invented protein powder. But, as competitors caught up, MET-Rx didn’t continue as innovators of the category. Over time, the brand lost its relevance and limited its growth by focusing on the culture of professional body-building. So, Met-Rx partnered with Prophet to revitalize its messaging strategy in order to take back the category it created and regain relevance in mainstream culture.


We designed a research strategy to better understand the MET-Rx customer—who they are, what matters to them and what they’re looking for. We engaged them in intimate co-creation focus groups and mobile shop-alongs to get ideas for how MET-Rx could begin to speak to them. Then, we developed various brand messaging platforms and tested them in qualitative sessions with consumers and stakeholders alike.

The rich feedback, suggestions and insight we gleaned from the testing sessions gave us specific direction so we could create the final brand idea. We were also engaged to help create a name and key messaging for a product innovation (a clean protein bar) which reinforces the brand idea. The winning name, Prime Bar, is a simple word that’s packed with positive associations. For example, “prime” means best (e.g. prime condition), first (e.g. primary), and to prepare (e.g. to prime an engine before starting it.


Met-Rx completely revitalized their brand using our “You Can’t Fake Strong” brand idea. This new direction included a logo refresh, a new brand line and website, as well as a key sponsorship deal with Tough Mudder. As a result, the brand gained market share and relevance with mainstream athletes (vs. the niche bodybuilder audience it started with), and has since launched successful TV campaigns (with Droga 5) and many product innovations.