Hunt's Crashes Into Kitchens With News About FlashSteam™ and Backyard Garden-Fresh Taste
Recent insights show that consumers have grown complacent about buying canned tomatoes. They're overwhelmed with choices in the canned-tomato aisle and there's no news to make them stop and reconsider their purchase routines.
Hunt's® intends to change all of that.
The brand is crashing into consumers' kitchens with a 360-degree marketing campaign that disrupts these attitudes and reminds people that Hunt's Diced, Whole and Stewed Tomatoes are harvested at the peak of ripeness, and then flash-steamed and packed within hours, which helps preserve the backyard garden-fresh taste that has made Hunt's famous.
"Cooking enthusiasts are attached to their ingredients in family-favorite recipes, so changing their canned-tomato behavior will be a challenge," said Reggie Moore, brand director. "But our integrated marketing campaign has some fun and disruptive ways of waking them up to the superior quality of Hunt's Canned Tomatoes."
On a Crash Course With George Duran
To spread the message about the Hunt's difference, the brand is enlisting the help of Venezuelan-born chef and entertainer George Duran. In addition to being named the new host of "The Ultimate Cake Off" on TLC beginning in February 2010, Duran is the author of "Take This Dish and Twist It," and host of the Food Network's "Ham on the Street" and "The Secret Life Of…".
Duran's bilingual ability, charismatic personality and culinary talents make him the ideal spokesperson for the brand's campaign, which follows a total market approach—one that incorporates elements for reaching both the general and Hispanic markets. Hunt's leads the canned-tomato category with a 24.5 percent share and also is the number-one brand of tomatoes used in Hispanic households.
"It's wonderful having a bilingual spokesperson we can leverage for both the general and Hispanic markets," said Carelys Hepburn, senior manager of Strategic Marketing. "The all-natural, garden-fresh taste of Hunt's Canned Tomatoes is relevant to both markets, so we don't have to dilute the message. Chef Duran brings continuity to our campaign and adds punch to our message, so consumers will stop and think about their purchasing behavior."
'Crash Kitchen Tour' Begins
The brand kicked off its "Crash Kitchen Tour" Oct. 2 with a national television and radio satellite media tour hosted by Duran. Nearly 20 media outlets interviewed Duran, including a handful of Spanish-language stations that reach millions of consumers across the country.
To convey the lengths to which the brand is going to get consumers' attention, Hunt's is running new documentary-style television ads that feature Duran confronting real people (not actors) at the grocery store and in their homes to help them experience the Hunt's difference and get them to switch to Hunt's.
Duran also "crashed" three house parties in the Hunt's Backyard Garden Fresh House Party™ event Oct. 24. Three lucky hostesses (in two general markets and one Hispanic market) received special visits by Duran during their parties.
Giving the Brand Some TLC
To build on the excitement of Duran's passion for the brand, Hunt's is extending its Crash Kitchen Tour into digital media outlets through a partnership with tlc.discovery.com. Starting Oct. 5 and building through the key canned-tomato season, the brand will begin integrating itself into editorial, recipe and video content on the TLC Cooking Web site.
Other public relations efforts in the Hunt's Crash Kitchen Tour include two national audio news releases that remind listeners of the 100-percent natural, garden-fresh taste of Hunt's Tomatoes and the health benefits found in canned tomatoes, such as vitamins A and C and lycopene, which is linked to heart health.
The campaign's messages are reinforced further in banner ads on Yahoo!® and through in-store consumer promotions, floor displays, vertical shelf banners, shelf talkers and instant-coupon machines.
Sources: IRI panel data, 52 weeks ending 11/08/09
