Cassies 2009 Cases

Brand/Case: Knorr Ready-to-Serve Colourful Soup

Winner: Packaged Goods Food—Bronze

Client Credits: Unilever Thom Braun, VP Brand Development

Natasha Gladman, Brand Development Director Jan Mollenhauer, Brand Building Director

Carla Malin, Senior Brand Manager Sylvain Brigant, Assistant Brand Manager

Mindy Williams, Assistant Brand Building Manager

Agency Credits: DDB Canada Inc. Andrew Simon, EVP Creative Director

Shane Ogilvie, Associate Creative Director Melanie Johnston, SVP Client Services Director

Wendy Caricari, VP Business Unit Director Jacqui Faclier, Account Director

Rachel Selwood, Senior Account Executive Tamara Gervais, Account Executive

Todd Mackie, Associate Creative Director Crossover Notes: All winning cases contain lessons that cross over from one case to another. David Rutherford has been identifying these as Crossover Notes since Cassies1997. The full set for Cassies 2009 can be downloaded from the Case Library section at www.cassies.ca Crossover Note 10. Conventional Wisdom—should it be challenged? Crossover Note 11. The Eureka Insight. Crossover Note 12. Changing the Goalposts. Crossover Note 16. When a campaign stumbles. Crossover Note 20. Emotional versus Rational. To see creative, go to the Case Library Index and click on the additional links beside the case.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Business Results Period (Consecutive Months): September 2008 – April 2009 Start of Advertising/Communication Effort: September 2008 Base Period for Comparison: September 2007 – April 2008 a) Synopsis of the Case Low carbs, no carbs, low-fat, no-fat. It seems that everywhere, someone somewhere is trying to convince us that they have the right way to eat better. Knorr, a brand known less for its healthier offerings and more for its gourmet products (everything from soup to sauces) knew that eating better didn’t have to be so difficult. In fact, it could be easy, by simply getting people to think about making better food choices in an entirely new way—discriminating by COLOUR. Crossover Note 12. In contrast to the beige of fried and processed foods, colour is shorthand for all of nature’s good and healthy ingredients—exemplified by brightly hued fruits, vegetables and spices. In 2008, Knorr launched this new idea globally, with a brand story aptly titled “Eat in Colour.” This new approach would challenge consumers’ preconceptions that eating well meant compromising on taste. It became the catalyst for launching four Ready-to-Serve soups from Knorr, each one based on one of nature’s colourful ingredients [vegetables, fruits and spices] and simply described as Red, Yellow, Orange or Green soup. They would provide all the nutritional benefits of nature, without compromising on taste. While “Eat in Colour” launched globally, the same advertising campaign did not. Europe focused on the functional benefits of eating colourful vegetables. This was not nearly as successful as was hoped. Crossover Note 16. Share grew, but at a lower rate than expected. Consequently the decision to launch in Canada was put on hold. Then, after much debate, it was decided that there was opportunity in Canada, but that the communication approach needed to be quite different. Crossover Note 20. b) Summary of Business Results Knorr saw 25% dollar volume growth (L52W) and 73% of this was attributed to Knorr Colourful soup - despite a substantial price premium to anything on shelf.

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SITUATION ANALYSIS

a) Overall Assessment Prior to the Colourful launch, Knorr’s ready-to-serve baseline of soups were doing quite well. Sales had reached a respectable $12.3 million, and were growing at 24% (June 2008 L52W). However, we needed to grow the brand’s presence on shelf and increase awareness that it was a major player. This meant more than adding new varieties; it meant differentiating ourselves and providing consumers with a new reason to take another look, or better yet, their first look at Knorr RTS soup. To do this we would change the lens through which consumers looked when evaluating how they could eat well and enjoy the benefits of healthier eating. Crossover Note 10. We believed that we could achieve our goals if we could change the conversation about health and wellness and how it pertained to soup. We knew that the brand had strong taste credentials; however we also knew that we needed to be extremely persuasive to justify a significant price premium to Campbell’s Gardennay, the category leader, and our own baseline soups. Gardennay and our own soups were selling for 25% less than Colourful soup would. And as of June 2008, just prior to the Colourful launch, Gardennay had a dollar share of 48.7%, while Knorr baseline was at 35%. b) Resulting Business Objectives

1. Achieve an overall 37% share of the RTS category 2. Grow unaided awareness of Knorr RTS soup by 10 points

STRATEGY and INSIGHT a) Analysis and Insight We knew through research that while our target wanted to eat healthier, she wasn’t always open to sacrificing taste and enjoyment. She also felt that eating better was too complicated; that there was too much contradictory advice; that eventually it became too overwhelming. As a result, she often found herself eating what was easier, turning to breads, fried and processed foods. To sum up – she was eating in a world of beige. Crossover Note 11. b) Communication Strategy We knew from Europe that preaching about the scientific benefits of ‘antioxidants and phyto-chemicals that neutralize free radicals’ was way too medicinal and the antithesis of her view of food as pleasure. We also knew that brightly coloured vegetables, fruits and spices were decoded by the brain as being ‘good for you’. We therefore focused on the colourful appeal of the soups and reinforced the goodness that colour creates in life—both physically (healthier) and emotionally (lifts your mood).

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We’d steer clear of preaching about antioxidant rich foods and allow the consumer to put that piece of the jigsaw into place herself. We were also heartened by Knorr’s taste credentials, which we felt would help justify the price premium and encourage trial MEDIA EXECUTION We used a combination of TV, Print, In-Store and Public Relations to provide maximum impact; building off each other to provide the complete story. For budget efficiencies we chose to produce one 30” TV spot supporting Yellow Soup, while print supported Yellow and Orange. The campaign launched in September 2008 with Yellow TV and Orange Print, followed by a second wave in January 2009 with Yellow TV and Print. CREATIVE EXECUTION

An integrated campaign showed just how much better a diet rich in nature’s colours can make you feel. It launched with “Yellow Dance :30” featuring a woman seen through a window on a rainy day. She’s preparing Knorr’s Yellow Soup. As she stirs it in the pot, she is taken on a beautiful and vibrant journey. The soup’s colourful steam envelopes her, brightening her mood as she’s taken away by the moment. The spot included one simple line: “Colourful vegetables are a sign of goodness in nature, that’s why Knorr is introducing a new range of colourful soups each one offering the benefits of one of nature’s many colours.”

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The budget allowed for only one spot. Rather than try to tell the stories of four different soups in 30 seconds, we chose Yellow for its unique combination of fruits and vegetables. The remaining varieties appeared at the close of the spot while Print, as noted earlier, focused on Yellow and Orange:

To generate awareness prior to the media launch, a PR initiative partnered Knorr with two high-profile chefs who truly valued the Eat in Colour philosophy with their emphasis on including fresh, local, colourful fruits and vegetables in their meals . Each chef produced recipes that showcased the colours of each soup. The Knorr Colourful Cuisine LookBook was then sent to Canadian media with samples and a media kit. In-Store then drove purchase at shelf, using the campaign seen on TV and in Print.

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BUSINESS RESULTS The ‘colourful soup’ campaign dramatically impacted Knorr’s business. Knorr RTS began a steady dollar share encroachment, growing by 5 percentage points from 34.8% pre campaign to 39.8% at April 2009. This exceeded the target of 37.0% by almost 3 points. In comparison, Campbell’s RTS steadily declined, beginning September 2009. All of this occurred despite Campbell’s heavy ad spend – they outspent Knorr Soup by over $3 million dollars. Branding was at 72% vs. a norm of 47%, eliminating a concern of potential brand misattribution to the category leader – Gardennay. Millward Brown Tracking Jan. – April 2009

Campaign in-market

Exceeded $ Shr objective

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CAUSE AND EFFECT BETWEEN ADVERTISING AND RESULTS Through extensive diagnostic research we knew we had a great product on our hands; however as witnessed in Europe a great product alone would not create a successful launch. A number of metrics demonstrated the causal effect of the advertising on the launch.

1. PreView testing for “Yellow Dance” TV exceeded purchase intent norms for Knorr Users (38% vs. norm 18%) and Non-Users (18% vs. norm 12%). This measure was extremely important due to the premium price of the product. In fact, 7 of 8 action standards fell in the top 10% of Millward Brown norms in PreView. 2. Tracking results far exceeded norms on all key measures including ad recognition (55% vs. 41% norm), branded recognition (35% vs. 19% norm), enjoyment (77% vs. 56% norm), and motivation (55% vs. 30% norm). Millward Brown Tracking Jan. – April 2009

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3. TV, Print and In-Store all exceeded Millward Brown norms. Quebec, a market where the brand had been losing share, had the strongest scores. Millward Brown Tracking Jan. – April 2009 4. Dollar share spiked during both advertising waves (Sept – mid Dec & Jan – late Feb). During Wave One, dollar share grew from 3.0 to 10.9 and then dropped once advertising support went black, only to rise again immediately after the campaign hit the market for the second wave in 2009.

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5. Share of Yellow and Orange soup, both supported in TV and Print, far exceeded Red and Green during the first advertising wave. While it could be assumed this was due to flavour preference, the share difference between all four varieties began to diminish and then break apart again when the second wave hit the market in January 2009.

6. In addition to all the positive share results, unaided awareness steadily increased following the first wave of tracking, and continued to gain momentum during the second wave of the campaign, growing by 9 points.