For more than a decade, Campbell’s Chunky soup has been linked with football. It’s a logical association, given that athletes are hungry people who need a hearty, filling soup. Historical alignment had been through the use of celebrity football players or a football mom in TV creative. Last fall, Toronto-based Campbell Company of Canada teamed up with OMD Canada, Accumark Communications, Boom! Marketing, and TrojanOne, all of Toronto, to create a brand experience that leveraged Chunky’s football heritage and to launch two new flavours.

Goal

To develop an association with football in Canada, and convert awareness into purchase.

Target consumer

A 32-year-old guy who enjoys family and football. The secondary target is his wife, the principal grocery shopper.

Insights and strategy

The target needs something hearty, and believes that most simple food options don’t fill him up properly. The idea was to own the point where football meets food – pre-game tailgating – by offering the consumer a meaningful experience around the brand.

The plan

The OMD team partnered with the CBC and RDS to take ownership of all pre-game broadcasts, and develop a national English and French CGC contest to ‘Tailgate with the Pros’ and a national sampling program.

Placements included pre-game broadcasts, host mentions and an on-desk Chunky logo – the first brand-specific logo in CBC history. There was also a feature, hosted by retired CFL star Daved Benefield, sporting a food-relevant name, Sound Bite.

As well, a contest invited CFL fans to share their tailgate rituals on a microsite. English- and French-language winners received VIP access to ‘Tailgate with the Pros’ at the Grey Cup. A video of the winners’ experience was posted on the Campbell website and sent to video-hosting sites. There were also grocery retailer-specific promotional tie-ins and a nationwide PR blitz. Finally, a sampling team set up a Tailgate BBQ experience at selected CFL games, including

the Grey Cup.

Results

Chunky grew volume during the time of the promotion, driven by Western Canada, where it gained 8 p.p in consumption growth vs. last year. Over five million PR impressions and 24,000 web views were generated during the promotion. There was also increased share of mind and purchase intent in key markets vs. last year.

Credits

OMD Canada: Donna Smith, group director; Doug Scott, VP broadcast buying manager

Accumark Communications: David Sharpe, partner

Boom! Marketing: Linsey Ferguson, senior client services manager

TrojanOne: Mark Harrison, president

CBC: Paul Abrams, manager, integrated sales

RDS: Anouk Bourassa, media creativity and commercial production manager

Campbell Canada: Mark Childs, VP marketing; David Allard, brand manager; Elaine Dawson, assistant brand manager

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