Where it’s landed
The Philly ‘Angel’ concept runs in 35 countries, including Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and most recently Brazil
Client: Kraft Canada
Dan D’Alessandro, VP marketing, cheese and convenient meals
Domenic Borrelli, category business director, cheese
Doug Pritchard, senior product manager
Shirley Mukerjea, associate product manager
Agency: JWT, Toronto
Martin Shewchuk, EVP/ECD
David Gibb, VP/GM
Sarah Loranger, Maryese Parent, copywriters
Jeremy Carr, art director
The Philadelphia story
In 1994, about a year after the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Angel appeared on TV screens in Canada, the Germans picked up the idea. Next, it was the Belgians or the Brits, possibly the Spaniards, speculates Dan D’Alessandro, Kraft’s VP marketing, cheese and convenient meals. His uncertainty can be forgiven given that in 11 years the Canadian-born Philly ‘Angel’ creative has been incredibly successful – adapted and used in over 30 countries around the globe.
The idiosyncratic angel who, in TV ads, encourages consumers to sample ‘a little taste of heaven,’ works so well because it ‘capitalizes on the brand’s essence of permissible indulgence,’ says D’Alessandro, and uses the very universal images of heaven and an angel – one with ‘all-too-human foibles,’ adds Mark Hansen, JWT, group account director.
‘This is really the best example of a global campaign that can be used regionally,’ he says, because while the core campaign remains the same, elements are written to cater to varying cultural sensibilities.
Interestingly, when the campaign launched in Canada, the numbers for the brand were already strong. It was a similar case in most countries, says D’Alessandro. And while the new campaign did help to boost sales, it was when senior Kraft execs saw the creative during one of the company’s global brand meetings that they recognized the possible synergies and efficiencies that a harmonized campaign could produce.
‘It was an opportunity to provide a common brand identity,’
he says.
Since then, the Philly Angel has gained a manservant here in Canada, and angel friends and/or angelic children in other markets. Kraft and JWT have also refined how they monitor campaigns (JWT manages the brand in all of its markets around the world), through a formal marketing council made up of very senior-level execs who meet upwards of four times a year to exchange notes on what is working well in their respective markets, says D’Alessandro.
All these years later, the strategy is still working, says Hansen, with the list of Philly Angel converts continuing to grow. Thirty-five countries – and counting.
