Hellmann's

The brand has long called itself the “real” mayonnaise, but research for Hellmann’s showed that consumers were cynical about whether that was true, despite the use of eggs, oil and vinegar in the recipe.

Ogilvy’s strategy was to make the Hellmann’s brand stand for “real” by creating a strong association with real, unadulterated foods. The growing interest in rooftop and community gardens across the country provided the perfect avenue to position the brand as a natural advocate for homegrown foods.

The first initiative was to create urban gardens across Canada in, of all places, parking lots. Urbanites received seed packs bearing invitations to enter a contest to win a free plot by submitting an essay online. There were also invitations in newspapers and banner ads. Ogilvy also created the Hellmann’s Urban Garden Fund, which was designed to assist existing community gardens. At every touchpoint the agency reinforced the real story of Hellmann’s – that its recipe is natural, includes Omega 3s, has no trans fats and is low in saturated fat. All communications pointed to Hellmanns.ca, and all signed off with the tagline, “Hellmann’s. Eat for Real.”

The results have been overwhelming. Hundreds of Canadians submitted essays, and Hellmanns.ca went from 61 visitors in March to 78,619 in June, after the campaign launched. Visitors spent an average of about 11 minutes on the site. Media coverage has been extensive, yielding 5.4 million media impressions as of July, and YTD shipments are up 25%, the highest growth in the world. From June 10th to July 7th, Hellmann’s base brand sales were up 7%, while the market was down 2%. And Unilever HQ is now interested in using the concept globally.