For its new “Edible Conversations” campaign, President’s Choice has brought Galen Weston to the table – literally.
A new 60-second spot called “Easy Switches” features Weston, executive chairman of Loblaw Companies Limited (PC’s parent company), conversing at a kitchen table with two prominent mommy bloggers about the challenges of preparing healthy meals.
In the spot, Emma Waverman (of EmbraceTheChaos.ca) and Sharon DeVellis (of YummyMummyClub.ca) tell Weston about the steps they’ve taken to provide nutritious meals for their families and the foods they’ve cut out to do so. An interested (and unscripted) Weston nods along and asks them questions. Other video spots are available on President’s Choice’s YouTube channel.
The casual setting is meant to have Weston appear approachable and attentive, two traits that David Rosenberg, partner and chief creative officer at Bensimon Byrne, said come naturally for Weston.
“Galen is legitimately superb when it comes to relating with people,” Rosenberg said. “He’s interested in knowing what his customers have to say, and likewise, letting them know what’s on the company’s mind. He’s been interacting with real Canadians for awhile.”
Weston has been at the forefront of most of the brand’s mainstream marketing in recent years.
Rosenberg said the conversational campaign allows PC to communicate more than just new products and flavours. “We get to touch on the why,” he said. “Why those products are in the market, what makes them important to President’s Choice, and how they connect with the wants and needs of Canadian consumers.”
Uwe Stueckmann, senior vice president of marketing at Loblaw Companies Limited, said the spot is the first step in a broader campaign that will continue to roll out new creative work as the year progresses. “Easy Switches” will run for a few more weeks on specialty and network broadcasters as well as on PC’s website and through the company’s content partnership with CBC’s Live Right Now program.
Stueckmann added that the open dialogue between Weston and bloggers Waverman and DeVellis sets the campaign apart from the work of other food brands. “These aren’t scripted, they’re not reading from a teleprompter,” he said of the TV spots. “This is not rehearsed and acted. This is a completely unscripted conversation between Galen and Canadians.”
