After a successful launch in the U.S. last year, Kraft hopes to make a big splash in Canada with the introduction of its Mio liquid water enhancer and a supporting marketing campaign that started Monday.
Mio (“mine” in Italian) has since grown into a $100-million-dollar brand for the food company since its March 2011 U.S. launch, said Kristi Murl, the food company’s senior brand manager.
“We were very excited to bring it to Canada… We were anxiously anticipating the launch,” said Murl, adding that Canadian consumers have been asking for the product through the brand’s U.S. Facebook page.
While the response in the U.S. was “exciting to see,” Murl said Kraft conducted several rounds of consumer research to make sure the product, format and formula made sense for the Canadian market.
Testing started at the concept phase, she said, and also included in-home testing. “Customers are able to customize their beverage to their taste [with Mio], so we felt it was important for them to get it in their hands and have them try it out before we launched it in Canada.”
Kraft Canada is targeting “male Millennials” who aren’t afraid of change and love to personalize and customize things like shoes, music and clothes.
The company has launched a 30-second television commercial from Taxi 2, which won AOR status for the brand last year shortly after McGarryBowen launched it in the U.S.
The ad opens with two co-workers discussing Kraft Mio and as the do so, they continually change outfits and eventually morph into completely different people.
“For this target group, change is fun and it’s how they want to be in their everyday lives,” she said. “We think this ad is engaging and funny and what we heard a lot is that this ad really rewards on repeat viewing because every time you watch it you see something new.”
The national English- and French-language marketing push also includes out-of-home sampling and in-store materials. A PR campaign will launch later this summer.
MediaVest handled the media planning and buying.
