It’s time to look at the shortlist for Marketer of the Year, which appears in Marketing’s Nov. 28 issue. We’ll be featuring each one online as a lead-up to our January 2012 issue, where you’ll find out which marketer will reign supreme.
Campbell Company of Canada
With product innovation and breakthrough communications, Campbell showed why an 80-year-old soup company is more relevant than ever
In the bustling cafeteria at Campbell Company in west Toronto one November morning, VP of marketing Mark Childs gets a latte from an automated machine (paper cup, no lid) and stops to chat with Steve, a plant worker who appears in an ad for Nourish. They share a laugh over an e-mail Steve sent Childs, in which he explained how neighbours stopped him on the street while he was taking his kids trick-or-treating, joking about his new-found fame.
One thing is clear: Nourish, a nutritionally dense meal-in-a-can created in partnership with Food Banks Canada to help fight hunger, really has made a difference in people’s lives (and not just those starring in its ads).
“They walk the talk,” says Carlos Moreno, senior vice-president, executive creative director at BBDO Toronto, Campbell Company’s long-standing agency partner. “Many of their competitors have causes they donate to, but how many of them have used their expertise to engineer, produce and market a product solely dedicated to delivering on their corporate values as Campbell did with the creation of Nourish? They are making a difference in a way that is inherently true to who they are as a company.”
Nourish launched in February. Its two varieties, Six Vegetable Grain and Hearty Chicken Bean, provide a full serving of three food groups: vegetables, grain and protein, and can be eaten straight from the can if there’s no place to heat it (and it still tastes pretty good).
Out of the gate, Campbell donated 100,000 cans of Nourish to food banks across the country. It also launched a social media campaign, “encouraging Canadians to become part of the hunger awareness dialogue,” says Childs. Every time someone liked its Facebook page, watched or shared its two-minute documentary-style video (made by Crucial Films) describing the story of Nourish, or tweeted with the hashtag #Nourish, Campbell donated another can. And for every can that was purchased at retail, another can was donated. All told, Campbell donated 300,000 cans to food banks, and is set to launch another donation campaign on Facebook and Twitter.
“We didn’t do it to be noticed,” says Phil Donne, president of Campbell Company of Canada. “We did it because it was the right thing to do.” For the marketing team, that meant “not treating this like another new product launch,” says Childs. “We made the decision that social media was the way to get the message out there. We made the decision that the net profit from these products goes directly to the issue of hunger awareness and hunger alleviation, which now includes a donation to the World Food Program.”
A 30-second spot, now airing on Corus, features Campbell employees talking about how people can help with the cause, and drives viewers to the Facebook page at HelpHungerDisappear.ca. The site encourages people to “learn more” by watching and sharing “The Story of Nourish” video and “do more” by buying the product.
“Our initial focus was awareness-building,” says Childs. “Today our goal is to get Canadians more involved and the intention of the Facebook page is to show that with one can [of Nourish] you can make a difference.”
Another made-in-Canada product innovation was Creations, a line of six reduced-sodium soups that “celebrate the good things that are in our products,” says Childs. With flavours like Tuscan Meatball with Farfalle Pasta and Rustic Spiced Lentil, the soups emulate how a home cook would prepare soups by using for example, carrot wheels instead of diced carrots.
A 30-second spot features Campbell employee Hilton, who starred in a 2010 ad that highlighted the company’s sodium-reduction efforts. In the Creations ad, Hilton is on a farm “rediscovering flavour” among the carrot and lettuce crops. The spot ends with the tagline, “Delicious just got healthier.”
There’s more! Check out the Nov. 28 issue of Marketing for the full profile, and subscribe to find out who will be named the Marketer of the Year for 2011.
