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Finding the kid inside us all.
+13.5%
lift in national brand awareness
+375%
increase in advertising recall
+355%
return-on-advertising spend
+7% / +$73 million
growth in nationwide purchases
"WE FEEL STUCK."
Those were the words of Ed Mizzell, the Luckie & Co. Chief Operating Officer heading up the McKee Foods account. He's the guy who had basically built the Little Debbie brand over the past 30+ years. As Ed described it, the marketing, the positioning, and the advertising had become stale. The creative department, he felt, needed new inspiration and stronger guidance. Most of all, Ed explained, we needed to get moving now, to capture the imagination of the next generation of Little Debbie consumers.
"Can you take the lead?" Ed asked me.
It was time to earn his trust.
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TAKING ON A REVITALIZED HOSTESS
The marketing problem seemed fairly straightforward: Hostess - Little Debbie's #1 rival outside of the Southeastern U.S. - had emerged from bankruptcy in force. With new capital, new leadership, and a new marketing program, Hostess had aggressively re-entered the retail space with large-scale aisle-dominant displays, retailer incentives, and rapid new product launches.
While most brands might shy away and cede territory to the rebound of such a well known competitor, the folks at McKee were up for a fight. The question was: How could Little Debbie, a relative unknown in western and midwestern markets (strongholds for Hostess), connect with these consumers in a way that was stronger than the Hostess brand they had grown up with?
That's where research came in...
THE CORE OF THE BRAND: "THE TASTE YOU CRAVE"
A mentor once told me, "Sometimes, the best way to uncover insights is to stop looking for them...and just observe what's going on around you!"
The first time I had witnessed the "crave" phenomenon was when I attended Little Debbie product testing groups as an observer, when the moderator presented the room with a platter of delicious packaged baked snacks.
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Participants Ooooed and Ahhhhed, as eyes grew wide and smiles stretched across their faces.
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Several giggled as they hoarded snack cakes, three deep, in front of them.
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Other participants struggled to answer the moderator's questions with swollen cheeks, their mouths stuffed full of chocolate and sweet creamy stuff.
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Some were even seen stashing extras in their pockets and purses for later.
​In fact, in virtually every discussion group - from blind product testing to concept discussions to advertising feedback - the reaction was always the same: When a platter of these sweet temptations was introduced, a room full of conservative and well behaved adults suddenly became an unhinged group of indulgent children.
It was a simple yet powerful insight: For adults, snack cakes can be an immediate throwback to the fun, freedom, and abandon of childhood!
Now, this may sound too simple...but that's what made it so powerful. Again and again through cross-market research, we found that these emotions, experiences, and passions were deeply embedded in this consumer's history and personal narrative.
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A simpler time when life was far less burdened with responsibilities and disappointment.
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A time when you received a treat for a good grade...or a job well done.
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Special surprises from Mom in your childhood lunch box.
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Trading snack cakes in grade school lunchrooms.
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A time when meals were fun...and dessert was even funner!
Now, contrast that with today's adult menu. Sitting around a stuffy conference table at a team lunch, hoping that the deli at least included a stale cookie with your Cobb salad? Or worse, brown-bagging it at your desk? C-store pizza? A vending machine sandwich? Three-day-old Chinese takeout with a side of celery? No craving. No reward. No celebration. And certainly no fun!
If only your nine-year-old self could see you now...Ugh!
And THAT was the paradox we could leverage:
The tension between being the adults we have to be...versus being the kids we really want to be!
"THE KID IN YOU"
Just like the insight, the advertising campaign was simple and empathetic.
Developed by Luckie & Co. creatives Bob Harrison and Jason Martin: The adult version of us has forgotten the experience of the "crave"...and the little kid version of us suddenly shows up ("Hey...you are...me?") to remind us just how much we loved Little Debbie when we were young. And, in an immediate and overwhelming moment, we jet off to feed our craving!
Click on the images to watch the original TV/Video spots.
Consumers responded wildly to this campaign, as the work received some of the highest test scores in Little Debbie / AmeriTest history. Even more powerful, for our Hostess viewers, it didn't matter that Little Debbie wasn't the brand of their youth. Undeniably and authentically capturing that moment...and connecting with those feelings...proved much more important.
Instantly, Little Debbie became "the brand that gets me!"
And consumers rewarded us with their business:
PERFORMANCE
By the end of the campaign...
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Brand recognition had grown an additional +13.5%.
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​Recall of Little Debbie advertising increased a full +375%.
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​Without having to suffer the cost of a point-of-sale war with Hostess - and with a return-on-advertising rate of 355% - we ultimately helped drive an increase in brand purchases of more than +7% for the period (somewhere in the neighborhood of +$73 million).
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