You can now mack on someone with mac and cheese.
From today until Oct. 8, Kraft Dinner is encouraging people, particularly singles, to send unsolicited “noods” – which are not unwanted lewd photos but a surprise four-pack of KD.
This is done by going to a URL that redirects to the Kraft Heinz Canteen, a DTC site that allows customers to buy family-sized bundles of Kraft Heinz’s top-tier brands, such as KD, Kraft Peanut Butter, Heinz’s line of condiments and Maxwell House coffee.
With recent disruptions at retail, Kraft Heinz has been pushing the Canteen to explore ecomm potential. This is the second major marketing program in recent weeks that drives to the platform, following on the heels of the LTO for its “pumpkin spice” variety. Most of the bundles on the Canteen are “family sized” and meant to help households stock up, but the KD pushes are geared towards learning how younger consumers might use the site.
This new campaign, in particular, is geared towards singles. The media plan involves Tinder takeover ads, where users can “swipe right” to the site and place their surprise order. There is also promotion on Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, along with “swag drops” for single influencers across Canada.
Kraft Heinz, which recently named Diana Frost as its chief growth officer, has remained focused on “growing beloved brands and moving into new spaces,” despite the ups and downs of the pandemic, which also entails building out its strategy on ecommerce and social platforms.
The campaign is a cross-border effort from Canadian agency No Fixed Address and sister U.S. agency Mischief @ No Fixed Address, which opened in the summer with former BBDO CCO Greg Hahn. Kraft Mac & Cheese – as the brand is known in the U.S. – is launching a similar initiative stateside, which includes digital OOH and a spot starring ex-Saturday Night Live star, Vanessa Bayer. In Canada, PR AOR The Colony Project led communications and Starcom led media.
Beyond the growing consumer interest in getting food and groceries through ecommerce channels, the campaign ties into trends around pandemic dating. Brian Neumann, senior brand manager of brand building and innovation at Kraft Heinz, says that with pandemic dating rituals being such a hot topic, something that’s unabashedly cheesy like this campaign is a fun ice breaker.
“The only thing that rivals the cheesiness of KD is a bad pick-up line,” he says.