Weston Foods Canada will introduce a new Quebec spokesperson for its Country Harvest brand Monday: Pascale Bussières.
Bussières, a Genie-winning actress, has been seen in several mini-series (including Quebec’s adaptation of In Therapy) and films in Quebec and beyond; she had roles in Guy Maddin’s Twilight of the Ice Nymphs and Patricia Rozema’s When Night is Falling.
It’s the first time that the popular actress has leant her image to a brand or advertising campaign. She will appear in a TV spot that debuting Monday and in a social media component. The campaign highlights Country Harvest’s partnership with Food Banks of Quebec, which, while started about 10 years ago, had never been visible in the brand’s advertising efforts.
‘’While we were doing research, we tested with and without the spokesperson approach with different people we had in mind,” said Éric Blais, president of Headspace Marketing, the Toronto agency behind the campaign and strategy. “Pascale had the strongest results. She is not usually associated with advertising. She is authentic, she makes wise choices in her career and that’s what people in our focus groups liked.”
During a pre-launch in Montreal this week, the actress said she accepted the invitation to be the brand’s spokesperson for three reasons: the fact that she considers a 100 % whole grain bread to be a ‘’noble product,” Country Harvest’s partnership with Food Banks of Quebec, and the storytelling of the campaign.
‘The strategy lies on the fact that whole grains nourish and sate hunger, said Blais. “To that element, we could associate a social component: sharing.” The TV spot shows the actress in a day-to-day context, doing things that “nourish” her. At the end, she says that when one is replete, it is good to share.
Weston will also launch eight new breads, of which six will only be sold in Quebec under the Country Harvest Vitality range. In addition, the food company is moving all its whole grains bread under the brand Country Harvest, while the Gadoua label will keep white breads and “pains de ménage,” which are thicker.
A social media component, developed by Cossette, will launch March 14th. People will be encouraged to take pictures of empty plates and share them online. Every time they do so, Country Harvest will give 1 $ to Food Banks of Quebec.
The campaign will run for eight weeks. ZenithOptimedia handled the media planning and buying.
