Faced with fierce competition and fading sales, Nabisco will try to revive its SnackWell’s brand cookies and crackers with a new look, new theme, and a new taste. “SnackWell’s are improved and completely reformulated,” said Lynne Collins, manager of communications for True North Communications. The agency, part of Foote Cone & Belding, New York City, is handling the account.
Nabisco is also introducing two new SnackWell’s products: Mint Cream Cookies and Caramel Delight.
The new advertising campaign, aimed mainly at the 30-and-over women’s market, will emphasize that snackers can feel good about eating and good about themselves. One of the new TV spots to air nationally shows a mother and daughter with a package of SnackWell’s Zesty Cheese Crackers. A male voice-over says, “At SnackWell’s we like to think that snacking shouldn’t be just about feeding yourself, but, in some small way, about feeding your self-esteem.” Another tagline says, snacking isn’t about “filling yourself, but fulfilling yourself.”
Collins said that special “mind and mood research” done jointly by True North and Nabisco involving focus groups, surveys and the like, showed that middle-aged women “are comfortable with themselves. By eating these cookies, they are enjoying life.”
The reformulation of the cookies and crackers has included adding fat for added taste. Crackers now count 1.5 grams of fat per serving; before they were fat-free. Most cookies carry an additional half gram of fat for each serving although some products have a per-serving total of one to three grams. Collins said the added fat, “is something we don’t like to dwell on,” and that it amounted to about the same amount for a pretzel.
The relaunch is part of Nabisco’s second restructuring announced in July by the company’s ceo, James M. Kilts. As part of the new market push and makeover of SnackWell’s, Nabisco plans to boost promotion spending on the brand. Last year the company spent about $26 million promoting SnackWell’s and that amount will be increased by 30 percent in the coming year.
According to Information Resources, Inc., Chicago, SnackWell’s sales were about $185 million for the year ending May 24, roughly half of the brand’s 1995 sales.
Collins attributed this decline to increased competition.
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