2021 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Objective & Challenge

When the pandemic struck in March 2020, Kraft Peanut Butter sales skyrocketed by 22% as Canadians stocked their pantries with the household staple. The brand was in the midst of gearing up for an advertising campaign but quickly realized it didn’t need one, and had already secured national media space including TV, social and OOH in anticipation of the campaign.

Insights & Strategy

With small businesses struggling to notify people that they were still open during the pandemic, the brand recognized that they could benefit from this advertising space more than it could. So, Kraft Peanut Butter donated its media space to help small businesses advertise like a big brand.

Execution

The team began reaching out to local small businesses in Canadian cities across the country. It searched for bakeries, restaurants or cafes that needed to get the word out that they were still open. It asked the businesses to submit the message they wanted to get out to the public, such as their hours of operations and product offering, along with simple photo or video assets.

The media buy included 30s TV and OLV, social media and OOH so the team developed KPB branded templates that allowed the brand to quickly and easily turn the assets into a cohesive campaign that Canadians would recognize. All of the creative drove Canadians directly to the businesses where they could place orders and make a difference.

Once the campaign was off the ground, the brand put out more social posts asking Canadians to nominate local small businesses they loved, or, for small businesses to self-nominate.

Results
In the first few weeks of the campaign, average sales for the small businesses doubled and in some cases, tripled.
Kraft Peanut Butter advertised for 20 businesses in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, London, Regina, Williams Lake and Hamilton to help Canadians stick together and support them.

The campaign delivered 61.8MM impressions and resulted in Kraft Peanut Butter’s highest social engagement ever. Kraft Peanut Butter was the only product in the category to see positive growth in brand equity vs. 2019. Most importantly, all of the small businesses are still in business.

Credits

CCO: Aaron Starkman
ECD: Mike Dubrick
Creative Directors: Aaron Starkman, Mike Dubrick
Art Director: Nick Noh
Writers: Jordan Darnbrough, Karine Doucet
Strategists: Sean McDonald, Hannah Newport
Producers: Anna Tricinci, Todd Harrison
Production Coordinator: Spencer Houghton
Editor (In house): Tyler Erdelac
Audio House: Vapor Music
Audio Director: Ted Rosnick
Audio Engineer: Art Mullin
Account Services: Caleb Goodman, Amy Greenspoon, Allie Kennedy, Catherine Blouin-Mainville