Kraft Canada wants Canadians to raise a toast to one of its heritage brands.
The company recently introduced an extension to its more than 140-year-old Philadelphia brand in an attempt to capture a share of Canada’s approximately $60-65 million sweet spreads category.
The new product, Philadelphia Chocolate, is cream cheese-based with a hint of milk chocolate. It is being sold alongside other Philadelphia products in the dairy case, in 250g and 400g tubs.
Nicole Pekerman, senior brand manager with Kraft, said that sweet spreads is a “highly overdeveloped” category in Canada, but that Philadelphia’s considerable brand equity creates a significant business opportunity.
While Philadelphia is a Canadian breakfast staple on bagels, Pekerman said that the introduction of Philadelphia Chocolate makes the brand suitable for other “carriers” such as toast.
The launch of Philadelphia Chocolate brings the number of SKUs in the Philadelphia product line to approximately 40 across a variety of categories: soft, brick, dips, whipped and last year’s new line of cooking creams.
An extensive TV, print, out-of-home and digital campaign developed by McGarryBowen’s Chicago office, with media by MediaVest Canada, is supporting the product launch. The campaign will run in two waves, with the first wave set to conclude at the end of May followed by a second wave coinciding with the back-to-school period.
The tagline for the campaign, “Oh yes we did,” is intended to convey the message that Kraft has made an already decadent product even better by adding chocolate. All of the ads feature a slice of toast with the Philadelphia Chocolate spread on top.
The campaign is being supported by in-store media and sampling.
Kraft is taking on Ferrero’s hazelnut spread Nutella in its campaign, claiming that a single serving of Philadelphia Chocolate has 50% less sugar and calories than “the leading hazelnut spread.”
According to Pekerman, focus group testing found that consumers still regarded Philadelphia Chocolate as “real food” and found the brand’s nutritional claims “very compelling.”
