The challenge
Made of vinegar, real Canadian eggs and canola oil from the Prairies, Hellmann’s Real mayonnaise is a ‘real’ food. But three out of four North Americans think mayo is unhealthy. Urban moms want fresher, more authentic foods.
After a successful two-year urban community gardens program, Unilever wanted to take its ‘Real’ platform to the next level, building on growth and shifting consumer perceptions, despite unprecedented commodity inflation and higher prices.
Ogilvy was challenged with getting Canadians to rethink eating real foods, establish Hellmann’s as a champion of this cause – and put mayo back on the menu in the process.
The insight
While studying barriers to eating the most flavourful, real foods, Ogilvy learned some unsettling truths. With prime farmland being
paved over and cheaper imports soaring, we’re losing the ability to eat Canadian. Hellmann’s could step up and be a voice heard by the masses.
The B!G idea
Ogilvy led Hellmann’s to a disruptive solution: shine a light on the startling facts and galvanize the target around the local food movement. The emotional core of the effort was a three-minute documentary film, ‘Family Dinner,’ hosted
on Eatrealeatlocal.ca. Based on extensive research and factchecking, the film highlighted the shocking amount of imported food Canada relies on, and it didn’t mention mayonnaise once.
The site directed users to locally grown foods, and provided tools and resources for consumers to choose Canadian, as well as blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook Connect to encourage dialogue. Every action pledged by the audience translated into a donation towards supporting local food resources and community food gardening programs run by Evergreen.
Hellmann’s enlisted a group of advocates dedicated to the local food mission and cascaded the progress of the program to a wide array of influencers, both traditional and digital.
Eatrealeatlocal.ca was supported by a partnership with Canwest to sponsor editorial broadcast news pieces on the subject, as well as a partnership with Transcontinental for a wrap in Canadian Living and other magazines. Canadian Living editorial, a TV spot, online ads and integrated sponsorships all drove to the site. At retail, coupons for Canadian produce, fish and breads and free reusable bags were included on pack.
The impact
After 10 days the video had over 50,000 hits through YouTube. After only two months, Hellmann’s hit its pledge target with over 105,000 pledges and 156% of intended PR impressions; the video has had over 100,000 online unique views (exceeding the goal by 408%).
Hellmann’s marketing director Jon Affleck was contacted by many groups voicing appreciation, including the Federation of Agriculture who invited him to speak at an event. Sales results weren’t available at press time, but confidence is high: the U.S. Hellmann’s client has asked Ogilvy to create a similar effort for their market.
What the judges said
‘It was nice to see such an educational program that has had such a dramatic impact on business results.’
– Andrew Barrett, LG Electronics
Jump to:
