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TV is proving to be a sharp medium for Kraft.
Sales of its Cracker Barrel and P’tit Québec natural cheese brands have been rising since the launch of a French and English-language TV campaign in March.
According to Kraft, baseline sales (the measure of what retail sales would be in the absence of a promotion) for Cracker Barrel and P’tit Québec have grown 13% and 24%, respectively, since the ads launched in March.
In addition, the persuasion scores (the likelihood of a consumer buying the product based on seeing the TV ad) was double the norm of what the testing methodology usually sees, said Anthony Rasetta, marketing director of natural cheese and development for Kraft.
“So we feel pretty good that there’s a strong correlation between the advertising and the results we’re seeing in market,” he said.
According to Rasetta, the Cracker Barrel and P’tit Québec are the number one natural cheese brands in their respective markets.
This is the first TV campaign for both brands in nearly a decade. The return was sparked by the increasing consumption of natural cheese products, said Rasetta.
The new English-language creative replaces a horse and buggy with a mom and daughter in an attempt to deliver a functional message and to rejuvenate the brand, said Rasetta.
“We talked to consumers and we had a lot of equity built in straight from the farm…but that felt a bit old and stodgy, so this communication really helps contemporize the brand,” he said.
The 30-second commercial starts by welcoming the audience to “Wholesome,” where, explains the male voiceover, Cracker Barrel Cheese is always made “without artificial preservatives.”
“And where the local restaurant serves nothing but the best,” the announcer continues as a mother and an apron-clad girl prepare lunch to two of the girl’s friends having a tea party.
The spot ends with the tag line: “Welcome to Cracker Barrel. Welcome to Wholesome.”
Also running, are two shortened versions of the spot that end with 5-second tags promoting Cracker Barrel slices and snacks.
DraftFCB in Toronto and Montreal handled the English and French-language campaigns, respectively.
The French creative aimed to reignite Quebecer’s love for the P’tit Québec brand and to push the snacks and slices products, said Rasetta.
Kraft will also support its Cracker Barrel label through print, in-store materials and its P’tit Québec brand through radio promotions run on the Astral network, starting later this summer.
The campaign wraps up at the end of the year, with MediaVest handling the buy.
