Oscar Mayer Awakens Sizzling Consumer Conversations
FACT: In 2013, bacon sales rose more than 8 percent. FACT: There are nearly two million mentions of #bacon on Instagram. FACT: People love bacon (they even designated September 3rd as International Bacon Day). FACT: As the bacon category leader, Kraft Foods Group Inc.’s (www.kraftfoodsgroup.com) billion-dollar Oscar Mayer brand does not need marketing gimmicks to keep consumers coming back for more of its beloved bacon products. But, its comfortable position is not stopping the powerhouse brand from pursuing its passion to delight bacon aficionados and loyal consumers with one innovation after another.
Here’s another fact for you; the brand is so passionate about this mission that it launched the Oscar Mayer Institute for the Advancement of Bacon (OMIFAB) in 2013 as an online hub dedicated to bacon innovations. Last year, OMIFAB created an e-commerce site to help consumers give the gift of bacon for Father’s Day with its Say It with Bacon campaign.
Its latest strip of ingenuity, the first-ever iOS device aptly named Wake Up and Smell the Bacon, broke new ground in consumer products marketing and innovation. The device syncs with an iPhone application of the same name to emit the scent and sound of sizzling bacon when the rooster crows.
To get the word out, the Oscar Mayer brand used a combination of paid digital and social advertisements, public relations and owned online channels to launch the Wake Up and Smell the Bacon campaign.
“Our goal with this program was to own the bacon conversation online and in media,” says Tom Bick, Senior Director of Integrated Marketing Communications & Advertising for Oscar Mayer. “The key is to create a highly integrated program through creative solutions that will excite your target to share online.”
From March 6 to April 4, 2014, bacon fans everywhere could apply for a chance to receive a free Wake Up and Smell the Bacon device. The device was not sold in stores and quantities were limited, so fans were encouraged to apply early and often.
Social media was a large component of the program. Two versions of an online video were created and ultimately received more than 5.2 million views on the Oscar Mayer YouTube page. Additionally, bacon fans were encouraged to use the hashtag #AwakenToBacon when sharing news about the Wake Up and Smell the Bacon device. They could also tweet with the hashtag to earn an extra entry into the sweepstakes to win their very own device.
Those fans that did not receive the device could — and still can — download the application for free in the App Store to wake up to the sizzling sound of bacon and amusing bacon sayings or “baconisms”.
“Following the launch, we saw an incredible amount of excitement surrounding Wake Up and Smell the Bacon, and it has proven to be our most successful bacon program to date,” says Bick.
That buzz — from both brand advocates and naysayers — leant itself to valuable insights for the Oscar Mayer brand.
“We are always analyzing social media user data to understand the conversation surrounding our products. Bacon consistently stands out as one of America’s favorite foods to talk about on social media,” says Bick. “After launching a program like Wake Up and Smell the Bacon, we analyze the level of social conversation related to the campaign to better understand sentiment, reach and overall awareness.”
In this case, Oscar Mayer recorded video views, hashtag usage, tweets about the program and media coverage, and discovered that the campaign broke a number of internal records:
- Most watched video with 5.2 million YouTube views
- Most visited web site with 1 million visits
- 2,700 percent lift in branded bacon conversations
- More than 464 million earned media impressions
- Oscar Mayer does not have plans to make additional scented mobile devices, but fans can expect future bacon innovations to come from OMIFAB.
“There are definitely more to come,” closes Bick.
Therein lies the lesson call for consumer goods marketers: Absolutely nothing beats a great product when you’re after consumer loyalty. But when it comes to marketing, think differently, take risks, and think outside the box — or in this case — outside the app.
Here’s another fact for you; the brand is so passionate about this mission that it launched the Oscar Mayer Institute for the Advancement of Bacon (OMIFAB) in 2013 as an online hub dedicated to bacon innovations. Last year, OMIFAB created an e-commerce site to help consumers give the gift of bacon for Father’s Day with its Say It with Bacon campaign.
Its latest strip of ingenuity, the first-ever iOS device aptly named Wake Up and Smell the Bacon, broke new ground in consumer products marketing and innovation. The device syncs with an iPhone application of the same name to emit the scent and sound of sizzling bacon when the rooster crows.
To get the word out, the Oscar Mayer brand used a combination of paid digital and social advertisements, public relations and owned online channels to launch the Wake Up and Smell the Bacon campaign.
“Our goal with this program was to own the bacon conversation online and in media,” says Tom Bick, Senior Director of Integrated Marketing Communications & Advertising for Oscar Mayer. “The key is to create a highly integrated program through creative solutions that will excite your target to share online.”
From March 6 to April 4, 2014, bacon fans everywhere could apply for a chance to receive a free Wake Up and Smell the Bacon device. The device was not sold in stores and quantities were limited, so fans were encouraged to apply early and often.
Social media was a large component of the program. Two versions of an online video were created and ultimately received more than 5.2 million views on the Oscar Mayer YouTube page. Additionally, bacon fans were encouraged to use the hashtag #AwakenToBacon when sharing news about the Wake Up and Smell the Bacon device. They could also tweet with the hashtag to earn an extra entry into the sweepstakes to win their very own device.
Those fans that did not receive the device could — and still can — download the application for free in the App Store to wake up to the sizzling sound of bacon and amusing bacon sayings or “baconisms”.
“Following the launch, we saw an incredible amount of excitement surrounding Wake Up and Smell the Bacon, and it has proven to be our most successful bacon program to date,” says Bick.
That buzz — from both brand advocates and naysayers — leant itself to valuable insights for the Oscar Mayer brand.
“We are always analyzing social media user data to understand the conversation surrounding our products. Bacon consistently stands out as one of America’s favorite foods to talk about on social media,” says Bick. “After launching a program like Wake Up and Smell the Bacon, we analyze the level of social conversation related to the campaign to better understand sentiment, reach and overall awareness.”
In this case, Oscar Mayer recorded video views, hashtag usage, tweets about the program and media coverage, and discovered that the campaign broke a number of internal records:
- Most watched video with 5.2 million YouTube views
- Most visited web site with 1 million visits
- 2,700 percent lift in branded bacon conversations
- More than 464 million earned media impressions
- Oscar Mayer does not have plans to make additional scented mobile devices, but fans can expect future bacon innovations to come from OMIFAB.
“There are definitely more to come,” closes Bick.
Therein lies the lesson call for consumer goods marketers: Absolutely nothing beats a great product when you’re after consumer loyalty. But when it comes to marketing, think differently, take risks, and think outside the box — or in this case — outside the app.