“It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread,” goes the saying. But if you ARE sliced bread, how do you top yourself?
Tomorrow, Weston Bakeries’ Wonder Bread launches a new campaign from The Hive, focusing in on what people really love about sliced bread, playing off the famous saying.
The four 30-second spots focus on the simple moments that happen around bread, such as a big brother smashing his little brother’s snack, a couple making up while playing with food or bad dad jokes. The videos feature the bread exclusively, as an invisible hand prepares the meal, while a conversation occurs off-screen.
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“Sandwich moments are actually quite personal,” says Simon Creet, CCO, The Hive. “They’re almost invisible, but they’re these really intimate moments with family and loved ones. So, in the past, every time people shoot them, they shoot them as encounters with actors and real people. And it’s difficult to relate to those moments because it’s other people having them. So we were trying to present the sandwich builds that put you in the first person and gave you all those subtle cues you remember from Wonder Bread – whether it’s the way your fingers sink into the bread, or the way a kid might spread jam.”
The new campaign is a departure for the brand, which has been (like the greater bread category) focused on promoting nutrition for the past few years, says John Phillipson, VP marketing, Weston Bakeries. The previous approach just wasn’t gaining traction, he says, so they decided to jump on another trend they spotted in the marketplace, namely the resurgence of comfort food.
“The brand is not loved for [nutrition]. It’s loved for its soft, pillowy texture,” he says. “We walked away from that over the past few years. We saw a really strong trend around comfort food. You have restaurants opening up dedicated to grilled cheese, poutine is everywhere. And that’s what the brand is all about. There’s nothing like PB&J.”
As such, the brand also retooled its recipe, calling back to an earlier version before the brand began to really focus in on nutrition.
The campaign is focused on two targets, the head of household (moms) and millennials, he says.
“The head of household is our bread and butter, no pun intended,” he jokes. “Families with kids make up 50% of our buyers. But interestingly, people without kids make up 50% of our buyers. So while we’re over-developed with moms, we have a pretty broad consumer.”
The media buy, handled by ZenithOptimedia, is pretty mainstream, he says, and will live on traditional broadcast during primetime hours, while the digital buy includes pre-roll and banner ads. Though the brand is starting to ramp up its social and digital presence, Phillipson says this campaign isn’t quite as digitally ingrained as they want to be yet. The campaign, launching tomorrow, will run through until mid-May, and then pick up again in time for the back-to-school season.
The new campaign also introduces the brand’s new package design, developed by Davis, which hit the shelves on the weekend. Match Marketing took care of the in-store execution.
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