Hormel Foods starts campaign to market overall brand
Published 9:29 am Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Hormel Foods Corp. launched the “Life Better Served” advertising platform yesterday. The project is the company’s first marketing campaign of all Hormel branded products in the company’s 119-year history.
The new Hormel campaign will utilize an integrated marketing approach with a unified look and message delivered through all advertising under the brand platform: “Life Better Served.” Hormel will market all brand’s products from products like Hormel chili to refrigerated entrees in one campaign.
During the company’s annual shareholder’s meeting Jan. 26, Hormel CEO Jeffrey Ettinger announced Hormel’s plan to increase ad spending in 2010 by about 10 percent. While Hormel reported record earnings in 2009, the company’s sales numbers showed slight decreases. Ettinger said one of Hormel’s key goals in 2010 would be to increase the company’s sales numbers. One way to do that will be through increased advertising.
According to a statement, the marketing campaign is designed to address an opportunity the company discovered through extensive consumer research: that many consumers know and love the Hormel brand, evidenced by top-performing products in several categories, but they do not realize the depth of the product offering and its ability to fulfill the full range of meal needs.
“This integrated approach is designed to welcome our target consumer to the world of Hormel brands — which can meet her desire to provide for her family with simple, wholesome meal solutions,” said Scott Weisenbeck, group product manager, integrated marketing at Hormel Foods, in the statement. “Despite the frantic pace of modern life, our family caregiver strives to feed her family a nourishing meal every day; we want her to know that the Hormel brand can help make this happen.”
The campaign focuses on products marketed under the Hormel brand including, Hormel Compleats microwave meals, Hormel pepperoni, Hormel Natural Choice meat and Hormel refrigerated entrees, along with many other products. Also featured will be products like Hormel chili, Hormel bacon and Hormel chunk meat.
The advertising campaign will include national print advertisements to generate awareness of the brand portfolio while showcasing individual products.
Advertisements will include half-page spreads, along with fractional units which focus on dinner, lunch and entertaining situations. Each ad poses a mealtime question that consumers face daily and demonstrates that Hormel branded items can be a simple and satisfying answer.
The Hormel brand will be featured in an Oscar ballot in “Entertainment Weekly” that depicts Hormel products as nominees.
Three television commercials will debut in February during the Winter Olympics on NBC. The commercials will run in 71 markets during four of the top 10 most highly viewed and anticipated television events of the year, including the Academy Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards and the Emmy Awards. The advertisements are designed to show Hormel products as simple solutions to three mealtime dilemmas.
The commercials can be viewed at http://www.businesswire.com/smp/hormelbrand/.