In its latest efforts to increase penetration among multicultural consumers, Kraft Canada has launched an online “create-and-win” recipe contest aimed at the Chinese community.
The contest, developed by Kang & Lee Advertising, invites consumers to submit a recipe in either English or Chinese that incorporates at least one Kraft product at KraftChineseCooking.com.
Kraft Kitchen experts will narrow the submissions down to five before a public vote determines the winner.
The Kraft “Create-and-Win Chinese Recipe Contest” officially went live May 1 and mirrors what Kraft launched for the South Asian community last year.
Aditi Burman, a senior promotions manager for Kraft Canada, said the company is pleased with how the South Asian effort has performed. In fact, the contest has seen triple the number of entries over last year, she said.
Burman expects the Chinese contest to play out much the same way.
Kraft has ramped up its multicultural marketing efforts over the last couple of years. In March, Burman was part of a presentation at Marketing‘s Multicultural Marketing Conference in Toronto, and explained why the packaged goods company has increased its focus on Chinese and South Asian consumers in recent years.
By 2013, one in four Canadians will belong to a visible minority, according to Irene Daley, senior strategy manager, Kraft Canada.
Right now, 75% of visible minorities are living in Ontario and British Colombia, 40% of which are either Chinese or South Asian. From a marketing perspective, these were the first two groups Kraft decided to target, said Daley.
Members of the Chinese and South Asian communities want to stay in touch with their cultural roots, but at the same time embrace a new culture and heritage.
Through research, Kraft learned that these consumers struggled with making traditional food at home because they didn’t recognize the ingredients they needed in the grocery store. Kraft has since launched websites that feature recipes for both cultural groups.
Burman said members from both the South Asian and Chinese communities spend a lot of time online communicating with friends and family back home and that “food is a central part of their being.”
The online contest allows Kraft to “harvest that passion and engage with consumers around food,” she said.
Kraft is promoting the contest through television commercials in addition to digital and print advertising. The print campaign is in English and Mandarin. MediaVest handled the media buy.
