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MICHELINA’S DANCES
AWAY FROM JINGLE Goodbye Macarena.
Hello Mama.
Frozen dinner
brand Michelina’s
is ditching its
Macarena-inspired
jingles in favour of a
tough Italian mama,
Michelina Pastarelli,
who bullies people into eating her food. The new positioning
was developed with Toronto-based John St., and the new tag is
“Let Mama Feed You.”
“We felt that the category had become somewhat
commoditized, and we wanted to do something with
personality,” says John Yen, director, consumer marketing
at Toronto-based Bellisio Foods Canada. “This is about as
irreverent as I’ve seen this category get.”
Two TV spots broke last month, as well as a multifaceted
effort built around the character on Facebook. Mama has her
own corporate page, as well as her own grassroots “profi le.”
The corporate page will house the TV spots, advergames
and regular vlogs by Mama. The latter will also be seeded
on YouTube.
“[The Facebook profi le] is really an opportunity to build a
rapport with our target,” says Yen, adding that the target is
tech-savvy, tends to have a spontaneous, “carpe diem” mindset
and eats to live rather than living to eat. AB
PICK FROM ABROAD: Mexico
WAL-MART DE MEXICO
SIGNS SPORTACUS
Wal-Mart de Mexico is bringing in the big guns to mark its stance
against childhood obesity. It just signed a multi-year agreement
with Iceland-based LazyTown Entertainment, the international
entertainment brand dedicated to promoting children’s health
whose main star is spandex-clad athlete Sportacus.
The partnership will see healthy LazyTown
products in Mexican Wal-Mart locations,
as well as co-branded mass
campaigns, events and targeted
promos later this year.
LazyTown’s characters
are well known from its TV,
radio, theatrical, music and
publishing ventures. The
company was founded by
athlete Magnús Scheving.
This isn’t the fi rst time the
companies have worked together: last year,
the retailer rolled out healthy LazyTown menu
options in its in-store Vips restaurants. AB
8
STRATEGY April 2008
LCBO SERVES UP ECO-PACKAGING
INNOVATIONS
By Carey Toane
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is launching its fi rst
eco-awareness campaign this month. Envirochic highlights products with
alternative packaging, such as Tetra Paks, PET, aluminum, reused glass
and bag-in-a-box.
Among the innovations
is an aluminum wine
bottle from Burgundy
vintner Mommessin
which turns colour when
the wine reaches its
optimal temperature.
“They’re fun, and quite
fashionable,” says LCBO
VP marketing Nancy
Cardinal, adding that the
new packaging materials
are also lightweight and
unbreakable. “There are
lots of things you can do in addition to being better for the environment.”
LCBO president and CEO Bob Peter fi rst issued a challenge to suppliers to
develop packaging alternatives in 2005. That year, the LCBO introduced the
fi rst wine in a Tetra Pak, French Rabbit. The next year saw the fi rst wine in a
PET bottle. Now the LCBO carries over 200 products in those two materials.
“It’s been quite incredible how the suppliers have stepped up to the
plate and embraced the challenge,” says Cardinal. “We couldn’t have had
this promotion really until this point, and there’s just so much that we can
showcase as part of Envirochic.”
The challenge was part of a larger corporate goal to eliminate 10 million
kg of waste per year; that target has since been surpassed by an additional
four million kg annually. Annual sales of alternatively packaged products
now exceed $120 million.
The campaign, created by the LCBO’s Toronto-based AOR, GJP Advertising,
includes 750,000 full-colour inserts in newspapers across the province,
in-store banners and brochures, and runs until Apr. 28.
CLARIFICATION
In last month’s Marketer of the Year profi le of the LCBO’s Nancy Cardinal, she was
mistakenly credited with store design, which is in fact the responsibility of the store
planning department under Jackie Bonic, VP store design and real estate. Strategy
regrets the error.
www.strategymag.com