Old Dutch Snack Foods is putting its potato chip competitors on notice: there’s a new chip in Eastern Canada.
The Winnipeg-born snack brand is expanding its distribution to Toronto and beyond, backed by a marketing campaign from The Brainstorm Group.
Using the tag line “There’s a new chip in town,” Brainstorm created an out-of-home campaign using the brand’s windmill logo that is already well known in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
In-store ads promote a contest offering a trip to the Universal Orlando Resort in Florida and daily giveaways of Baby Mama DVDs.
“Old Dutch was the first to bring salt and vinegar, dill pickle and ketchup flavours to Canada,” according to Bob Froese, president of Brainstorm Group. But that’s a hard story to tell outside the brand’s home market.
“We looked at a lot of ways to do it, but it didn’t make sense in Eastern Canada…because people aren’t familiar with the brand.
“The idea of the new chip in town had some of that newcomer swagger.”
This is the second time Old Dutch has tried to move its chips eastward. It faced a troubled launch in the ’90s, getting limited distribution and shelf space in a market dominated by American-owned Frito Lay brands, such as Doritos and Ruffles. It subsequently pulled its products from all markets east of Thunder Bay, Ont.
In February 2007, Old Dutch began a second, slower roll-out with a handful of its brands after acquiring Canadian-owned snack maker Humpty Dumpty in 2006 for $26 million.
“There’s a new chip in town” marks the final phase of that roll-out, with all Old Dutch products now available throughout Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.
