Decoding the Job Behind RXBAR's Ad Copy
Objective: Given RXBAR's actual front-of-pack copy and a founder quote, reverse-engineer the functional, emotional, and social job layers the brand is really selling against, without seeing any customer research.
You're a junior brand strategist at RXBAR reviewing the packaging and website copy before a messaging refresh.
Read the packaging copy and founder quote, then write the job statement as three complete sentences, one per layer, in the customer's own voice.
Before you start
What you'll need
Free path (everything below is enough to finish)
Free, no account friction, easy to share as a portfolio artifact
The process
1 step
Step 01 of 01
The lesson's Three Job Layers framework splits any job into functional (the practical task), emotional (how the customer wants to feel), and social (how they want to appear to others).
RXBAR's core tagline is 'No B.S.' and its packaging lists ingredients on the front instead of a brand logo. Given only that packaging choice and one founder quote ('People don't want to decode an ingredient list anymore'), which job is RXBAR actually selling against, and what are its three layers?
Procedure
- Paste the exact copy: front-of-pack ingredient list, 'No B.S.' tagline, founder quote.
- Underline every word that names a practical task, that is the functional layer.
- Underline every word that implies a feeling, that is the emotional layer.
- Underline every word that implies how the buyer wants to look to others, that is the social layer.
- Write one complete sentence per layer, stating the job in the customer's voice.
Functional: 'Give me a protein bar where I don't have to decode a chemistry-class ingredient list to know what I'm eating.' Emotional: 'Let me stop feeling guilty or tricked by "healthy" snack marketing.' Social: 'Let me be the person at the gym who reads labels and still trusts what they're eating.'
Healthy
All three layers are written as complete sentences in the customer's own frustration, not as product features.
Unhealthy
Writing 'the job is eating a protein bar', that restates the product category, not a job.
What this means
If your three sentences could apply to any protein bar on the shelf, you've described the category, not RXBAR's specific job.
So what do I do about it?
| Symptom | Action | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Job sentences sound generic enough to fit any competitor | Re-read the founder quote for the specific frustration it's responding to, then rewrite the functional layer around that frustration | 5 min |
Final deliverable
A one-page job statement for RXBAR broken into functional, emotional, and social layers, each written as a complete sentence in the customer's voice.
See a reference example
Spotify, job statement (illustrative) Functional: 'Help me get through this specific moment, my commute, my workout, my wind-down, without having to search for the right song myself.' Emotional: 'Let me feel like the music understands my mood right now.' Social: 'Let me discover songs before my friends do, so sharing a playlist makes me look like I have great taste.' This is the job Spotify's 'Discover Weekly' and mood-based playlists are hired for, not 'access to 100 million tracks.'
Success criteria
You're done when you can:
- All three layers are written as complete customer-voice sentences, not features
- The functional layer ties directly back to a specific detail in the source copy or quote
- The job statement is specific enough that it would NOT accurately describe a generic competitor