Brand: Kraft
Execution: Print
Target: Women 25-54
Rating: ****
Reviewer: David

Description:
For the fourth year, Kraft is sponsoring a special holiday issue of People which is being sent to 1mm of People’s 2.3mm subscriber audience (the mid-life women).  The issue will feature ads for Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Chips Ahoy, Jell-O and cinnamon coffee which are embedded with ‘rub and sniff’ technology (the successor to ‘scratch ‘n sniff’) allowing consumers to smell the aroma of fresh cheesecake or coffee.  The new technology apparently prevents the premature release of the scent during the delivery process.  For more see Brian Steinberg’s article in the Wall Street Journal here.

What Works:
In his well-regarded book Brand Sense, Martin Lindstrom reminds us that most marketing activates only two of the five senses – sight and hearing.  Smart marketers with tangible products can use touch, taste and smell to add to the brand experience.  Mercedes, for instance, has patented its ‘new car smell’ which is added to each new Mercedes after production.  Scientists also know that smell is the sense most closely linked to memory, so it makes sense that brands ought to use smell as a marketing tool.  This is woefully difficult with packaged goods products whose scents must often remain hidden through the purchase experience only to emerge in the home.

Kraft has overcome this problem by turning back to a modern update of an old tactic – the scent-impregnated print ad.  In this modern incarnation, the scent is imbued on a portion of the page which can be rubbed to bring it forth.   The scent is also apparently more lifelike and less irritating than older versions – although we have not yet seen this execution in person.

We applaud Kraft for its forward-thinking approach to marketing.  Rub and sniff may be no more than a novelty at the moment, but it has the potential to enrich the advertising experience.  This advertising blog appreciates marketers who find innovative ideas in the past as well as in the future.

What Doesn’t:
It all comes down to execution, and technologies like ‘rub ‘n sniff’ are tricky.  If the odors of the food fail to remind us of home-baked alternatives, the energy spent behind this campaign will have been entirely waisted.

Branding Bottom Line:
Kraft has us nostalgic for hula-hoops and 8 track tapes.

Brand: Planters Nut Lovers Mix (Kraft Foods)
Execution: TV
Link: Click Here
Target: Nut Lovers
Rating: **
Reviewer: David

Description:
A dapper, animated Mr. Peanut rushes out of a cab at the bottom of the Empire State Building in Manhattan and up to the observation deck as dramatic orchestral music urges him on. He looks right and left coming out of the elevator, wanders around, almost giving us his search in desperation and finally sees what he is looking for – the winsome pistachio. He sweeps her into his arms as the voiceover says, “For those who love pistachios, new Planters Pistachio mix is made just for you.” The spot shifts to a package shot with the tagline spoken and superimposed “50% pistachios, 100% love.” The last shot shows the rest of the ‘Lovers Mix’ line extensions including Cashew, Macadamia and Pecan.

What Works:
Kraft and FCB New York do a nice job of creating a dramatic and memorable setup for the Planters Lovers Mix line extension. The Sleepless in Seattle parody is a nice metaphor for the Lover’s Mix as peanut meets pistachio. Full animation is a good choice here as it gives New York a vintage art-deco feeling that fits with Mr. Peanut’s monacle and top hat. The soundtrack does a good job of setting this spot apart from conventional animation. Because Mr. Peanut is in virtually every frame of this spot as the brand icon, the branding in this spot is excellent. The execution is ownable as it is impossible to imagine a rival nut manufacturer (like Emerald, for instance) running this spot.

What Doesn’t:
This spot raises the ongoing question of the effect of line extensions on core brands. From our perspective, while Planters may be a reasonable brand to guest host other nuts, advertising the mixes dilutes the core brand equity for Planters. Why? Culturally, there is an ingrained prejudice in the US to think of peanuts as ‘cheap nuts’ versus the more exotic, expensive and desirable nuts like Cashew, Pistachio and Macadamia. So while mixing peanuts with these premium nuts might increase the value and appeal of the peanut, it also reminds this advertising blog that peanuts are lowest-common-denominator nuts. This might not be a problem on shelf where we’re conditioned to look for the product mix we want. But as television advertising this comes off as an Arthur Miller/Marilyn Monroe marriage which tends to remind us that the peanut is just a working-class guy next to the glamorous pistachio. So although the execution on this spot is good we feel it is a mistake for the brand equity of the base Planters brand to be reminding us that we’d really rather splurge on Cashews or Macadamia nuts.

Branding Bottom Line:
Planters makes Mr. Peanut look frumpy next to Ms. Pistachio

Brand: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese w. Calcium
Execution: TV
Link: Not Yet
Target: Moms
Reviewer: David
Rating: *

Description:
Twins eat macaroni and cheese to a blues riff (the mac & cheese blues, apparently) while we learn that Kraft Mac&Cheese has double the calcium.

What Works:
Kraft is one of the best marketing companies in the world. And their advertising is often great. Here, it appears that someone was reading a training manual which said:

1. People remember jingles – which can be true
2. Show don’t tell – which can also be true
3. Make the product the hero – generally a good idea

This spot attempts to do all three.

What Doesn’t:
The first tip-off that this spot will probably be remembered during an alcoholic binge as the low-point of an art director’s career is the use of twins to signify “twice as much” (as in CALCIUM as if it were not already screamingly obvious). This is an old, old, dead metaphor which anyone who has seen a Doublemint Gum commercial will confess now makes them queasy.

Music is not necessarily bad and I believe that a well-crafted jingle – or even a few choice bars – can be more effective than licensing a Rolling Stones song. However, I’m not sure what the Blues do to enhance this spot and the generic song seems at odds with the silly lyrics. Why do the kids have the blues, anyway if they’re happily getting their double calcium from Kraft Mac & Cheese?

The final, awful, coup de grace is the use of the tagline “it’s the cheesiest.” Which just about says it all for this spot.

Branding Bottom Line -
Kraft steals thirty seconds of your life and will never give it back.