Campaign Summary

Hellmann's collaborated with Mumbai restaurants to demonstrate how its product could even further elevate Indians' favorite burgers.

Strategy

Objective

In introducing its mayonnaise to Mumbai, the "Food Capital of India," Hellmann's wanted to improve its brand metrics through a high-impact market activation while effectively communicating the superior product offering and brand proposition: "If you haven't tried Hellmann's, you haven't tried mayo."

Context

Mayonnaise is lucrative market in India and is growing at a rate of over 20 percent CAGR. It is popularly being referred to as the new ketchup of India.

The main drivers to this growth are rapid urbanization, growing affluence across the country, global food influences, and the intrinsic versatility of mayonnaise over ketchup, which is considered a dip, as well as the rapid development in the QSR and food services sector in the country.

Hellmann's business objective was to grow the mayonnaise business aggressively with competitive share gain and become the No.1 mayonnaise player in the Indian market.

Target Audience

The target audience for this campaign was urban gen Z consumers aged 16 to 30. Hellmann's particularly targeted digital natives who actively explored new culinary experiences and were heavily influenced by digital platforms when making food and restaurant choices and who embraced global experiences, thus transforming the Indian food culinary industry at large.

Creative and Media Strategy

Appealing to the consumer's passion for food expression through digital media became the core pillar of the campaign's creative strategy.

The brand discovered that 82 percent of its target audience was a daily Instagram user, with the rise of food content creators on Instagram indicating that it was the perfect platform for the Hellmann's media strategy.

Execution/Use of Media

"Hellmann's Superfans Hunt" was a unique campaign in which gen Z consumers in Mumbai got a chance to indulge in their passion for burgers and sandwiches with a popular food influencer, exploring "the best burger joints in Mumbai"' to experience how Hellmann's mayonnaise could transform their favorite burgers into something even more special.

The campaign developed an array of features, including:

• A unique Hellmann's Food Trail. The campaign tapped into gen Z's passion for food and eating out by collaborating with popular burger outlets in Mumbai. Hellmann's persuaded the resident chefs to create a special Hellmann's menu that transformed their popular burgers with Hellmann's mayo. A celebrity food creator invited gen Z to this experience: Hellmann's had Kamiya Jani invite the audience to join her on the "Superfans Bus" to experience the best burgers in town.
• A larger-than-life experience for the superfans. A select group of consumers who participated in the consumer promo joined Kamiya on the Superfans Bus to travel to select restaurants to enjoy the new Hellmann's infused burgers.
• An AR surprise while capturing an "'Instagrammable' Moment." As fans of Hellmann's received their delicious burgers and attempted to take pictures of them, a QR code on the plate triggered an AR experience that animated the Hellmann's jar so that it and the burger sang the brand jingle.

Thus, the Hellmann's superfans campaign integrated AR technology and social media to uniquely match the overall experience to gen Z who value novelty and shareability.

Business Impact

The campaign delivered on its objective, effectively communicating the core brand attributes. Post-campaign results showed a whopping growth in top-of-mind awareness of 1,200 BPS.

Additionally, Hellmann's:

• Observed notable growth in brand awareness to the tune of 400 BPS
• Achieved a combined reach of 8.3 million across Instagram and YouTube
• Found that 22 percent of the restaurant-goers scanned the QR code and engaged with the AR filter, which was significantly higher than the industry standard of 10 to 12 percent

Moreover, following the campaign, a Hellmann's study found that:

• 38 percent preferred Hellmann's mayonnaise's taste over other brands
• 29 percent of these consumers would consider Hellmann's the next time they purchased mayonnaise.
• 47 percent of these consumers in the 18- to 24-year-old age group believed the "product was thicker and creamier than other brands."