Becel
Becel-ebration

The Challenge

For over 40 years, Becel margarine has been positioned as a heart-healthy alternative to butter, focusing communications efforts on a fifty-five plus audience. To ensure the health of the brand, appealing to a younger audience became a business imperative. Canadians aged 25-49 however, hold negative perceptions of margarine, and view butter as a more natural choice.

The question became: how does the brand reimagine its communications approach to drive relevance and consideration among an audience that has completely dismissed the category?

The Target

Today’s families and professionals 25-49 years of age employ a common-sense approach to eating. They think about what they put in their bodies and educate themselves to ensure optimal nutrition, leaning toward natural foods and consider butter to be a more natural choice. They are experimenting wellness trends like plant-based eating but are doing so on their own terms. They are not vegans.

They are tapped into culinary culture and in today’s digital-first world, they have more ways than ever to be inspired and educated about food. As self-professed foodies, they place a high value on new edible experiences and leverage them as social currency.

Insights and Strategy

Plant-based eating has become popular, especially among millennials. To these younger foodies for whom cooking and dining experiences are a way of life, butter was a staple and the agency recognized that butter has something the brand doesn’t - culinary credentials.

The team saw the opportunity to play in this space, positioning Becel as not just healthy eating but truly ‘eating well’, something for millennials to incorporate into a culinary experience, thereby tapping into their foodie mindset. As the target didn't currently think of Becel in this way or recognize the fact that it was made with plant-based oils, the team wanted to wrap this surprising message in an equally surprising package. The agency found the perfect vehicle by tapping into the restaurant world, surprising consumers with a series of culinary experiences.

The Plan

Starting in September 2017, with the launch of Becel with Avocado Oil, the agency transformed Toronto’s Graffiti Alley into a lush dining oasis, called Avo Alley. Working with chef Matt Dean Pettit, the team developed a menu showcasing the versatility of Becel – infusing it into each course in unexpected ways.

Open over the course of two days, Avo Alley hosted media, influencers, Registered Dietitians and consumers. With online bookings for consumers being available through the Bookenda/YP Dine booking system, the event sold out in 24 hours.

In January 2018, the brand upped the ante, creating PLNT, the world’s first-ever fully plant-based restaurant in Toronto’s concrete jungle, where everything diners touched, sat on, and ate was made of plants (a 'Crop-up' restaurant, if you will.) The agency teamed up with celebrity influencer, Jillian Harris, and registered dietitian/influencer, Tori Wesszer, to spread the word and educate around plant-based eating. For three days, the brand served an influencer curated Becel-infused menu and hosted media, influencers, registered dietitians and consumers.

Tickets to PLNT completely sold out in under a week, and consumers lined up to see if they could get a seat. All proceeds from ticket sales went to the Heart & Stroke Foundation and Becel matched donations dollar for dollar. Moreover, the restaurant staff had all been touched by heart disease in their personal lives, a point the brand played up with media.

The Results

For Avo Alley, the objective was 25 million earned and social impressions and we achieved 32.7 million, a 31% increase. The hashtag #AvoGoodness also trended on Twitter in Canada. For PLNT, the objective was 35 million earned and social impressions, and we garnered 43.6 million, a 25% increase. This is the first time in more than two years that Becel has seen $Volume and Unit growth for five consecutive periods. Becel starting to gain $ Share and Tonnage Share in a category that is shrinking. Positive Base Volume growth for nine periods shows the lift in sales is not influenced by promotion. During the period PLNT was in market, Becel stole share from butter.