Conagra is rolling three of its brands into one for a shopper campaign designed around holiday usage occasions and easy meal prep.

Through key SKUs like Duncan Hines Epic, Gardein Stuffed Turk’y and Swanson Oven Roasters, the CPG is looking to show Canadian consumers that they have options their families will enjoy and that meal prep doesn’t need to be stressful. Though the program launched ahead of Easter, and is on one level meant to show it can address all stages of a big family meal, it runs until April 25 and taps into big trends that have relevance outside of the holiday, though it does provide a useful lens through which to view them.

Tim Lute, VP of commercial strategy, insights and transformation at Conagra Brands, explains there is a movement toward more plant-based options as showcased in the trio of products, which include not just plant-based protein like Gardein, but also Swanson veggie sides as Conagra courts flexitarians. “We came together around Easter, and solutions that are easy to prepare around the holidays,” Lute says.

According to Lute, Conagra is going to market with recipes that create solutions-oriented adjacencies, such as Pam cooking spray being included in its endcap display.

“Coming out of COVID, when retailers were focused on other things, we are seeing events, adjacencies, and larger shopper marketing programs really come back, particularly in conventional grocery,” Lute says. Shopper traffic is also in part shifting to discounters, he explains, and events like Easter drives value for conventional banners in an environment in which shoppers are eating out less frequently and are more budget conscious, turning to comfort foods at home.

Standard retailer-specific tactics like end-caps, in-store blades and in-app offers are part of the campaign, alongside keyword-targeted ads with AllRecipes.com, Conagra’s ReadySetEat.ca recipes solution site and Instacart.

Mars is the shopper agency on the campaign. M&K is the media agency that helped with the Allrecipes.com. Golin is the lead on corporate PR efforts. 

Conagra recently saw a 30% revenue lift in its last earnings report, in part due to modernizing its marketing.