Minute Rice is bolstering its influencer marketing approach to show how its products can address the pain points of time-strapped Canadian parents.

This year’s “#WeekdayWin” campaign will see a network of food bloggers share recipes that can be made in 15 minutes and address a range of challenges when it comes to meal preparation, from dealing with picky eaters to finding wholesome ingredients that are time- and cost-effective. The influencers will share the content on their own blogs and social channels over the course of eight weeks, though it will also be amplified through Minute Rice’s own channels. It will also include the brand’s debut on Facebook Live, when Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat of “Bite Me More” will live-stream their 15-minute meals on Feb. 8.

The Catelli Foods brand worked with Environics on the campaign.

The “#WeekdayWin” concept debuted last year with food bloggers sharing their own Minute Rice recipes through their social channels and blogs. Norma D’Onofrio, senior brand manager for Minute Rice, says the success of the initial campaign has led the brand to build out its influencer network and deepen this year’s campaign by focusing more on recipes that directly address challenges moms face when it comes to meal preparation.

“All of our influencers are parents, so they developed recipes based on their own experiences with these challenges,” D’Onofrio says, adding the campaign is also meant to discover tips and tricks and start conversations between its influencers’ audiences about which ones do and don’t work.

The approach is also meant to fit in with the brand’s “Third of the Way” positioning when it comes to creating meal ideas: using one protein, one vegetable and Minute Rice to create one full meal. The brand’s own research has shown that convenience is a major desire for moms, but there are several challenges that come up and can stand in the way of that. A survey suggested that 40% of parents have a hard time finding meals friendly to their kids’ picky tastes, with 36% saying they’ll prepare separate meals for their kids to avoid confrontations. A further 67% also want their families to eat wholesome foods, but feel the cost prevents them from doing so consistently.

The research also suggested that 82% of Canadian women rely on having a well-stocked pantry to provide them with fast meal solutions throughout the week. It also suggested that half of Canadians didn’t know that Minute Rice is just partially pre-cooked rice, and showing that it can be a wholesome meal ingredient that can be added to a range of different meal options is an effort to have a greater presence in those pantries.

“Due to this gross misunderstanding of what our product actually is, we believe that there are many people who simply aren’t reaching for Minute Rice,” D’Onofrio says. “We want to educate consumers so they know that Minute Rice is a wholesome rice option for time-strapped Canadians.”

Minute Rice has always focused on families in its marketing, though the approach has been “fine-tuned” to focus more on moms, who still bear most of the responsibility for meal preparation.