When most people think of canned soup, they think of mushy noodles and vegetables that have lost their nutritional value.
Campbell’s wants to change this with its new line of Well Yes! Soups that offer fresh ingredients. To promote the new line, the company partnered with iconic actress Mindy Kaling for a new campaign called “Eat Bright.”
“Mindy Kaling truly embodies the values that drive our brand – positivity, transparency and a brightness,” said Linda Lee, Chief Marketing Officer of Campbell’s Meals and Beverages. “Mindy’s personality and style brings this vision to life. Well Yes! targets people with a positive outlook on life and Mindy is just that, constantly challenging the status quo and pushing for greatness.”
Kaling plays up the ingredients: “Roasted chicken soup with rich bone broth,” she asks in one :15 second spot. “Cluck, yeah! Live well, don’t compromise and eat bright.” In another she plays us the tomato and sweet basil soup as delicious and nutritious, exclaiming “Basil-Tov.”
“For the campaign, themed ‘Eat Bright,’ we combined the wit and charm of comedian Mindy Kaling with the vibrant visual world created by director Autumn De Wilde,” said Isabela Ferreira, SVP Creative Director at Leo Burnett. “It’s a celebration of Well Yes! and the power of positive nutrition.”
The Well, Yes! soups are formulated with an emphasis on healthy ingredients – like spinach, butternut squash, roasted chicken and wild rice, Ferreira added, “so the soups are as nutritious as they are delicious.”
The campaign targets foodies that look for healthy food and lifestyle options. “Well Yes! targets people who have a positive outlook on life and on food,” Ferreira added. “People that want the freedom to eat foods they enjoy as they embrace the journey to live well. It’s not just about what they’re eating, but how it makes them feel. The positive nutrition of Well Yes! aligns perfectly with that approach and lifestyle.”
Campbell Soup has benefited from the pandemic as consumers in lockdown stocked up on canned foods in the spring. The company reported a 6 percent increase in the number of households that purchased its products during its fiscal Q3, and saw net sales increased 18% in fiscal Q4.
The new campaign helps the brand position itself as a healthy option for quick meals, something that came out of consumer research.
“This campaign is highlighting our brand restage,” said Lee. “We launched Well Yes! to bring better-for-you soups to the world two years ago. We pride ourselves on being in step with what our consumers want, we tracked the initial launch closely. We listened to people’s feedback on flavors and combinations they loved and what they were looking for. Our team did a tremendous job taking this feedback into account, ensuring all Well Yes! products have a combination of amazing taste, nutritious ingredients and modern flavor combinations.”
An interest in healthier canned soup options is partly driven by younger generations of consumers trying out the brand. “The surge in demand as a result of the pandemic has brought millions of new and younger households to our iconic portfolio of brands,” Lee said. “We are reinvesting our earnings to build a relationship with our consumers through new campaigns, relevant content and meaningful innovation.”
As people look for more comforts during the pandemic, many are rediscovering childhood favorites. Campbell’s has an opportunity to connect with this nostalgia and tell its modern story to these consumers.
“Many consumers have rediscovered Campbell’s, as they turned to the comfort of our brands that they remembered from childhood,” Lee said. “This provides an opportunity for us to introduce these consumers to new product options in our portfolio, such as our sipping soups and broths. It’s also an opportunity to provide ideas and solutions for on-trend behaviors like quick scratch cooking, which we believe will continue post-pandemic. We are challenging ourselves to create content that provides inspiration to our consumers to engage with our products.”
The “speed scratch cooking” trend – in which people can quickly pull together meals from scratch in a short period of time – is an opportunity for Campbell’s to provide ingredients to an audience of home chefs that may not think of Campbell’s when they need bone broth.
“The strategy is grounded in the common misconception that canned soup must not contain real and fresh ingredients and therefore they must not be all that good for you. And that’s simply not the case,” Ferreira said. “Well Yes! soups from Campbell’s are crafted with colorful, nutritious ingredients – like spinach, butternut squash, carrots and – so the soups are as nutritious as they are tasty. We combined the wit and charm of comedian Mindy Kaling with the vibrant visual world created by Director Autumn De Wilde, to celebrate the real, delicious ingredients found within Well Yes! and the power of positive nutrition and living well.”
