Left to their own devices, kids creativity has a way of expressing itself, often in quirky and unexpected ways. That tendency made working with child “actors” in a new campaign the obvious choice for Iögo, as the company launches two new products under the Nano label.
Last month, to coincide with the return of school, the Agropur brand launched new Nano yogurt with no sugar added. Nano also entered the cheese category with its first line of all natural cheese, which comes in individual portions.
From its research, the dairy cooperative is aware that sugar ranks among parents’ biggest concerns when it comes to snacking, says Éliane Ouimet, director of marketing at Agropur. The new yogurt, made from a combination of whole milk and fruit, is meant to address those concerns.
Its entrance into cheese is also part of Nano’s larger objective to provide healthy snacks across dairy categories, she says. Featuring 21 different animal illustrations, the packaging is meant to appeal to children, with the all-natural product intended to appeal to parents.
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To launch the new products, Agropur worked with Montreal agency Alfred on ads featuring unscripted footage of children, who were asked how they would promote them. The outcome was as playful and endearing as one might expect.
In one ad for the cheese, a boy hops around playing the harmonica, as another peaks from behind a curtain, watching a friend roll a hoola-hoop across the floor. In one for the yogurt, a boy clumsily mounts onto a stool and declares “yo-gurt,” holding the cup high into the air.
The campaign consists of twelve such commercials – three for the yogurt and three for the cheese, with the same amount produced in French for the Quebec market. Taking an unscripted approach to the creative meant working with two groups of children, notes Ouimet, resulting in different yet similar French and English versions of the commercials.
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In addition to digital banners following the same theme and social posts sharing funny stories about children – adding another layer to a campaign that is all about the “natural side” of children, says Ouimet – the campaign also includes several behind-the-scenes vignettes showing the children preparing for the shoot (or dropping the products, as in one blooper-style video). All assets are living on Nano’s website.
The Nano brand is “all about playfulness, being there for the kids,” says Ouimet. “It was easy for us, and natural, to ask the kids to give their input, to actually do the advertising.” The creative approach was “about the moment and how they think and see the product.”
Iögo has taken a playful approach to its advertising in the past, including the work done for its Proteine line of high-protein products. Recent ads featured the brand’s iconic umlaut (the punctuation mark found above the “o”) having fun until hunger gets in the way. Using the fun-loving punctuation is an approach that dates back to 2016.
Ouimet says that while the strategy and brand pillars of Iögo and Nano are the same, their campaigns are deployed differently to address a different consumer. While the Proteine line targets adult consumers, for instance, the focus for Nano falls on convenience and being a “partner” to parents.
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