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- 🧪 Oatley’s Voice Advantage
🧪 Oatley’s Voice Advantage
How their words build worlds around shared beliefs, values and identities.
Isaac Peiris
May 13, 2025
Read time: 5 mins | Read online
There are so many elements that make up a brand. The visual identity. The digital presence. The customer experience.
Potentially the most undervalued one is brand voice.
It’s the factor that stops you in your tracks. It stands out so clearly from everything else that you can’t look away.
Brands like Duolingo have famously gone to extremes with their voice, and it’s paid off. But I think one of the best examples of a brand who has developed their voice to the point of being a genuine competitive advantage is Oatley.
Hope you enjoy this one!
— Isaac Peiris
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Oatley’s Voice Advantage
In 2014, a small Swedish oat milk company started selling a product in America. They entered a market dominated by almond and soy alternatives, and plant milks were still largely seen as niche products for the lactose-intolerant or health-conscious. Most people didn't even know they wanted it.
But Oatly didn't position themselves as just another dairy alternative. Through deliberate language choices, they transformed their brand voice into their most powerful strategic asset.
They didn't call it "plant-based milk".
They called it "Wow no cow".
They printed it right on the carton, along with provocative lines like "It's like milk, but made for humans"(that one got them sued, more on that later…)
Oatly didn't just introduce a product. They created a movement. It began with their words.
From Obscure to Unmissable
Before 2014, Oatly was a relatively unknown brand outside of Sweden. They'd been making oat milk since the 1990s. But when Toni Petersson took over as CEO, everything changed. He didn't just rebrand the company. He reimagined what a food brand could sound like.
Petersson brought in creative director John Schoolcraft, and together they made a radical decision. Oatly would have no marketing department. None. Instead, the creative team would report directly to the CEO.
Their first move wasn't a new formula or flashy advertising campaign. It was a complete language overhaul that defied every convention in the consumer packaged goods industry.
The packaging didn't look like any other milk brand. It was loud. Quirky. Messy on purpose. It talked to you like a friend, not a corporation.
The cow diagram on their packaging is one of my favourite positioning elements ever. It makes you think “yeah it does seem weird to drink cow milk now you say it like that”.
The cartons carried conversations like "Hello future oat milk drinker! Yes, we know it's weird to call it milk when it isn't, but..." Each package became a mini-manifesto. What could have been a clinical health product transformed into something with personality and purpose.
While traditional dairy brands spoke with the sterile authority of nutrition labels, Oatly sounded different. Traditional milk alternatives focused on health benefits. Oatly sounded like that slightly eccentric mate who's passionate about sustainability and isn't afraid to tell you about it.
Making a Statement, Not Just a Drink
The real genius came when Oatly entered the US market. In 2014, plant-based milks accounted for only about 7% of the total milk market, and almond milk dominated that small segment.
Their launch strategy wasn't focused on mass distribution. Instead, they targeted baristas at high-end coffee shops in New York and Los Angeles. These were places where people don't just order coffee, they discuss it. This created a grassroots network of influential tastemakers who could introduce the product in the perfect context. |  I only dream of one day being as cool as my local barista |
Oatly’s barista edition came with playful instructions and conversation starters printed right on the packaging. Coffee shops became the front lines of the Oatly movement. Baristas became their evangelists.
The package copy included memorable lines like: "We know how it sounds. Tall, blonde and...Swedish. All nonsense of course! We are not a supermodel, a ski instructor or a fictional character from Mamma Mia".
The psychology behind this approach is well-documented. When language is playful and human, it sticks. People remember what they enjoy reading. Emotional connections drive purchasing decisions far more effectively than rational arguments about product features.
Soon, demand outpaced supply. By 2018, there was literally an Oatly shortage in the US, with cartons re-selling for upwards of $20 on Amazon. The scarcity only fuelled the hype in a market where alternative milks had grown to a $2 billion industry.
From Product to Movement
Unlike competitors who positioned themselves primarily on health or environmental benefits, Oatly used their voice differently. They transformed oat milk from a product into membership in a movement.
Most brands describe what they are. Oatly described what they believe.
Their messaging on climate change wasn't buried in sustainability reports. It was right there on the carton: "This carton is made of stuff from trees and plants and stuff". That sentence doesn't just describe packaging. It signals values without preaching. It invites consumers to join without lecturing them.
Language signals values. When a brand speaks like us, or how we'd like to speak, we feel a deeper connection. You don't just drink Oatly. You join them.
Even their controversies became opportunities. When the Swedish dairy lobby sued Oatly for the slogan "It's like milk, but made for humans," Oatly printed the entire lawsuit in newspapers and on their website. They turned legal trouble into content, which only reinforced their David vs Goliath narrative. |  Copywriting so good it sparks a lawsuit. |
By 2020, Oatly was in over 50 countries. Their sales had grown from $200 million in 2018 to over $400 million in 2020. And in 2021, they went public with a $10 billion valuation. That’s more than most traditional dairy companies that have been operating for generations.
Behind the Voice
What makes Oatly's approach so powerful isn't just that it's funny. It's that it's strategically applied across every customer touchpoint.
Their voice is:
Clear. Despite the casual tone, there's never confusion about what they stand for.
Consistent. The voice carries from packaging to advertising to social media to their CEO's statements.
Character-driven. It feels like it comes from a person, not a committee.
Contextual. It adapts to different markets while maintaining its core personality.
The voice wasn't reserved for billboards or Instagram. It was baked into the product experience itself. Every carton became a micro-advertisement that reinforced the brand with each pour.
When Oatly launched their Super Bowl ad in 2021, it featured CEO Toni Petersson playing a keyboard in a field singing "Wow, no cow" repeatedly. It was deliberately awkward. Critics called it the worst Super Bowl ad of the year. But it generated more buzz than ads that cost millions more to produce. Google searches for Oatly spiked 1,000%. Their website crashed from traffic. |
Once again, Oatly turned conventional wisdom on its head. They used a voice that stood out precisely because it didn't sound like marketing.
Voice as Strategy, Not Decoration
What Oatly understood, and what many brands miss, is that in a crowded marketplace of similar products, voice can be your most powerful differentiator.
They didn't find their voice after product-market fit. Their voice created the fit. It carved out a distinct position in consumers' minds.
This approach contrasts sharply with how most food brands operate. Traditional CPG companies typically develop a product first, then create a marketing strategy to sell it. Oatly reversed this process. They used their voice as the foundation of their entire business strategy.
Here's what we can learn from their approach:
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Their success wasn't just good copywriting. It was the recognition that a distinct voice could build a world people want to live in. A world where sustainability can be approachable. Where corporations can be transparent. Where changing your milk choice can feel like a small act of rebellion rather than a compromise.
Too often, brand voice is treated as the final coat of paint applied after the "real work" of product development and marketing strategy. But in Oatly's case, it was the foundation.
They turned oat milk from a health-store niche into a cultural movement by understanding something fundamental. Your brand doesn't need a billboard. It just needs a point of view, and the words to express it.
Because when you speak with clarity and character, you don't just sell a product. You build a world people want to live in.
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