Unilever is out to show Quebec families just how easy summer cooking can be.
The company has, for the fifth year, teamed up with Montreal-based agency Bob to create a summer-themed multi-brand marketing program at IGA. “Un été pas compliqué” (“An uncomplicated summer”) highlights Unilever’s main food brands, including Hellmann’s and Becel, in the Quebec market.
“The goal is to help Quebec families eat more at home,” explained Dominic Prigent, director of shopper marketing at Bob. “[Unilever brands] can help liberate moms from unrealistic dinner expectations and show her there’s no need to sweat it. It’s time to have fun in the kitchen again.”
The program kicked off last week with an insert in Quebec-based 7 jours magazine and IGA’s flyer. It includes in-store product displays, as well as coupons and recipe booklets. The program is supported by spokesperson Mélanie Marchand, a well-known culinary artist in Quebec.
“Her accessible culinary creativity offers Quebec consumers diversified use of Unilever food and ice cream brands,” said Caroline Forcier, shopper marketing manager for Unilever. Forcier added that Marchand has helped make Unilever brands accessible to Quebec consumers using an easy-to-read photo novel, also known as a photo-roman, in which illustrations are replaced by real people’s photos.
The photo-roman is a particularly unique aspect of the campaign, and such novels used to be quite popular in Quebec, said Forcier. Unilever has brought back the format. In this case, a story is told through Marchand’s use of recipes in her own personal life.
Bright and quirky, the photo novel is a depiction of how fun – and sometimes funny – cooking can be. It represents a joie de vivre Quebecers enjoy, said Prigent.
Through its five years, Bob and Unilever have worked together to strategize creative campaigns, but the marketing program is always focused on offering meal inspiration recipes and coupons to help shoppers use the Knorr, Hellmann’s, Becel and Breyer’s brands in the meals.
This article originally appeared at CanadianGrocer.com.
