Spreads Easily
Philadelphia Cream Cheese is 128 years old. And that’s a problem.
Yes, people are used to the venerable brand. But they may not be interested in a variation with 1/3 less fat. How do you reach them?
Kraft Foods decided that only way was to get new product right into consumers’ mouths. And that meant airport sampling.
JetBlue Airways passengers on flights from Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Oakland, Long Beach, CA, and Fort Lauderdale received branded breakfast packages last month containing the cream cheese sample and a bagel.
As part of the month-long “Breakfast from Heaven” promotion, brand managers Adam Butler and Tyler Williamson boarded Jet Blue planes, often dressed in white tuxedos. The duo filmed passengers’ thoughts about the samples, brand and cream cheese in general. M2Launch handled the sampling. The footage was packaged into videos for a blog and online sites.
The blog, www.AdamandTyler.com, provides clips of the 30-something men talking seriously about cream cheese and getting people’s reactions to the less-fat alternative. The site also chronicles the duo’s weeklong journey around the country sampling the brand, and the humorous methods they use to do it.
To get the word out, Kraft reached out to blogger sites with the help of DEI Worldwide, a word-of-mouth agency.
Kraft also created YouTube and Myspace pages at www.youtube.com/user/AdamNTyler and www.myspace.com/adamandtyler. On the sites, visitors can watch videos about the campaign’s inception and view consumer testimonials.
The effort marks Kraft’s first foray into viral marketing in the soft cheese category. The last major product launch for Philadelphia was in September 2006 with its Ready-To-Eat Cheesecake Filling.
“We wanted to give Philadelphia Cream Cheese a new personality and modernize the brand,” Butler says. “There was kind of a challenge to people in marketing to push the limits as much as possible to start talking to people in a new way.”
For an age-old brand expanding its product line, traditional marketing alone doesn’t cut it.
“We couldn’t just rely on TV commercials and print ads,” Williamson says.
Is it working? In the first nine days, the blog had more than 16,000 visits. Overall, the response was positive, Butler says.
But not all consumers are won over by the ploy.
One blogger wrote, “As brand managers for this product, it’s all so overly intentional and schticky. You are sales people with an obvious point of view. This blog simply aims to distract from that fact by implying both of you can actually say anything other than ‘Kraft/Philadelphia cream cheese is great.’ A for effort, F for execution. The only thing cheesy around here is this blog!”
“We want to come across as being genuine,” Williamson says. “If people say something negative, we need to show that.”
Kraft started seeding its campaign last fall on blogs to pump up the brand. In December, it kicked off the campaign with a taste challenge. People who try the lower-fat cream cheese and don’t like it can request a coupon by mail for the regular blend through July 15.
TV spots, print ads and an ongoing sweepstakes supported the product launch in January. Under the promotion, Kraft is giving away bagels and cream cheese to 100 winners each day at www.creamcheese.com through March 20. Visitors to the site can also download a new widget for recipes and party-planning tips.
“Marketing is all about going to where the people are,” Butler says. “Part of it is about building a community. [For Kraft], that will be a focus for the long term.”
For more articles on retail marketing go to www.promomagazine.com/retail
