TAXI DELIVERS KNOCKOUT PUNCH - Strategy

aoy honourable mention
MICHELINA'S • JOHN ST. • STANFIELD'S
STANFIELD'S
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Toronto-based John St. returns to the AOY podium this year with an Honourable Mention.
Judges singled out Auto Trader as a favourite: “Simple stuff, and laugh-out-loud funny,”
said Frito Lay Canada VP marketing Tony Matta. “No consumer will have to guess at the key
message, and the humour is right in your face.”
www.strategymag.com
A traditional Canadian brand with 150 years of history, Stanfi eld’s
needed some credibility in a world of fashionable competitors like Joe
Boxer, Calvin Klein, DEX and Tommy Hilfi ger.
For more urban, fashionable, image-conscious males, this
century-old image was a liability. But John St. found a signifi cant
group of young men for whom that unfussy, no-nonsense image could
be seen as a positive. So where most underwear brands feature models
wearing nothing but their briefs, John St. presented a world of fully
dressed men.
The idea was simple: you don’t have to see them to know who’s
wearing them. Two TV spots, “Guys Night Out” and “Exercise Ball,”
ran during NFL football and sports highlight shows like Sportsnet,
SportsCentre and The Score last fall. During the winter, another spot,
“Meat Locker,” was added to the rotation to promote the garments’
thermal qualities.
Research done in December 2007 showed spikes in overall awareness,
brand recall (both unaided and aided) and intent to purchase. The
campaign garnered signifi cant attention domestically and was
shortlisted at the One Show and Cannes.
The challenge: revitalize a brand on a fi ve-year sales slide whose only
real equity was a cheesy pop song, “The Macarena.”
Michelina’s target, the post-university/college male, is not interested
in ingredients or health. As one guy said in research, “I want to eat. I
don’t want to cook.”
So John St. gave him a cook: a thick-accented Italian mama. “Let
Mama Feed You” was a multimedia campaign that introduced Mama in
two TV spots: “The Wall” and “Takedown.”
Concurrently, John St. launched a Facebook profi le page where the
target could check out photo albums of Mama at a bachelorette party,
an improv class and an impromptu foosball championship. Mama’s
700+ friends were invited to play online games, respond to discussion
topics and watch her vlog rants about recording Oprah on her PVR and
why pop starlets refuse to wear underwear.
Mama was parodied on Royal Canadian Air Farce and featured
on Breakfast Television, and made Top Favourites on YouTube. The
campaign has gone global, and Michelina’s has put “Let Mama Feed
You” on its packaging in the U.S. Tracking indicates that Mama is
well on her way to burying the “Macarena” legacy for good: in three
months, “Mama” beats “Macarena” mentions among those who recall
Michelina’s advertising.