Cavendish
Cavendish Farms, is part of the J.D. Irving Group of Companies that was founded in 1882 with operations in Canada and the United States. Cavendish Farms is one of Canada’s largest producers of frozen potato products especially made for consumers, restaurants and institution customers alike.
Industry
— Consumer goods
— CPG
Branding to
— Become known
— Conquer new markets
— Expand an offering
Services
— Brand & value proposition strategy
— Advertising & promotion
— Marketing collateral design
The Situation
Cavendish Farms was looking to re-launch their From the Farm, a premium frozen potato brand in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. It had not grown due to limited distribution and minimal marketing communications support (in-store POS, coupons, direct mail and trade promotion).
Frozen potatoes is a very low involvement category. Consumers don’t spend a lot of time thinking about frozen potatoes – they don’t read labels, they buy on price and format. Frozen potatoes are a convenience food more than an occasion food and only supplement a meal.
McCain dominated the category with over 65% market share, huge brand awareness and locked-in listing exclusives with key grocery trade (LCL, Metro, Sobeys).
Human catalyst
Moms want to make healthy choices without compromising convenience.
Our Solution
Knowing that we would face challenges in the freezer case for distribution space, we focused efforts on the trade four months before the branding campaign launched. We sent out a teaser package to all key grocery accounts to build awareness and establish From the Farm’s 100% PEI potato positioning and point of difference.
Following the teaser package, Yield created a 2-minute video that the sales team could use with the grocery trade and support listing negotiations.
We also struck a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays to get exclusive product distribution in the Rogers Centre along with in stadium advertising.
The final piece was a TV advertising campaign. Research had shown that PEI potatoes were perceived to be the freshest, tastiest, most natural potatoes in Canada. The creative was built around this insight and featured ‘singing farmers’, real PEI Cavendish potato growers who extolled the superiority of PEI potatoes in two memorable and compelling spots.
The Yield
The advertising campaign generated significant social media impact with 25,000+ YouTube hits in the first month. Garnered wide-spread earned media with a CBC news story about the farmers plus coverage in numerous mass, trade, and online publications. Cavendish From the Farm advertising awareness increased 21% and brand awareness 4% in the six months following the campaign.