Orville Redenbacher has launched a new line of popcorn chips available in four flavours: buttery, sweet & salty, barbecue and aged cheddar. The product has 60% less fat than the leading regular potato chip, per 50 gram serving.
“With the market moving to the better-for-you type snack, we thought we could make a product that not only tasted good, but was a good alternative to regular potato chips,” said Chris Lamb, marketing director – snacks and frozen at ConAgra Foods, which owns Orville Redenbacher.
Research conducted for the brand found consumers aren’t willing to give up certain attributes they like about chips or other salty snacks, namely crunch and texture. At the same time, they want to eat more real food and wholesome ingredients. “When we pieced that together, popcorn chips came out as checking all the boxes,” said Lamb.
To promote the new product, Orville Redenbacher has launched a national TV spot created by Blammo Worldwide.
The ad depicts a dramatic scene from a Games of Thrones-like TV show. The man, who is apparently wounded, tells his partner to go on without him. But she assures him they’re almost at the end, and revives him with a popcorn chip. It’s then revealed that the couple is actually sitting on the couch watching TV. The spot ends with the tagline, “official snack of the TV marathon.”
The idea was to pair the evolution of movie watching with the evolution of popcorn, which is popcorn chips. “Popcorn is really entrenched in the movie-watching experience,” said Lamb. But with the rise of streaming services like Netflix, “people are moving towards binge-watching an entire TV series in a weekend.”
Research also uncovered the insight that when couples binge-watch a show, “there’s always one who is falling asleep and can’t quite make it through the entire series,” said Lamb. “The other one can’t watch the series alone, since it’s something they do together, so [he or she] is forced to keep the other person awake.”
The target market for Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn chips is “middle millennials” in their late 20s and early 30s. “They’re a little bit more established, couples living together or in the early stages of marriage, and not quite at the age of really settling down and having a family,” said Lamb.
Orville Redenbacher is also promoting popcorn chips with in-store sampling and is aiming to work with retailers on themed events throughout the year, such as the Super Bowl.
OSL is handling the shopper marketing component. Starcom is handling the media planning and buying.
