In the third part of our frozen food challenge, Siân Harrington reveals the winning brand that will be presented to buyers in the final round
Nature&'s 18 Superfoods has captured the imagination of The Grocer&'s readers and has been voted the unanimous winner in our challenge to create a new brand designed to reinvigorate the frozen food category.
After we shortlisted three contenders in part two of our frozen challenge (The Grocer, 15 April 2006), readers voted for the concept they felt had the most commercial potential. The overwhelming winner, Nature&'s 18 Superfoods, is a range of predominantly frozen but also fresh products that make up the 18 superfoods rich in natural plant nutrients that should be part of a healthy diet.
The range would be available separately and also in Balance Boxes, which would include a selection of different superfoods, each containing nutrients benefiting a different part of the body. Interlink Foods chief executive Paul Griffiths, who voted for this idea, says: &"I think the concept has the potential to embrace a wider range of products along the line of &'contains superfoods&' and in time could command space in stores in the way we are seeing growth in organic and wholefoods&' space. In my opinion, it deserves further development.&"
Meanwhile, Andrew Thornton, of consultancy Srcg, was not the only voter to say: &"What a great concept. When will it be available for retailers to stock?&"
One of the ideas behind our campaign was to develop products that would bring new people to the category and help rid it of its downmarket and discount image. Our winning concept certainly appears to have achieved this. Says Maria Murphy, senior national account manager at Müller: &"I never shop in the frozen isles, but I would certainly make the trip to buy this product. My partner and I try to eat healthily, but time is often against us and I end up chucking fresh veg. I love this concept because it&'s so convenient and the health messages on the packet really appeal to me.&"
So the idea is a hit, but how should it be marketed? Branding and communications agency DNX, which devised the creative and brand positioning for our three shortlisted products, has come up with the advertising pitch you see on these pages. The campaign is based on growing young, not old.
&"The trade has been looking for a catalyst to rejuvenate the frozen food aisle. Nature&'s 18 could be it. Freezing is the ultimate preservative - and what better way to lock in the goodness of nature&'s masterpieces,&" says DNX joint MD Drew Nicholson.
&"Growing young means a fit active body - whatever your age. Because it would be easy for the consumer to dismiss Nature&'s 18 as &'just a load of vegetables&', we decided our campaign needed to be visually arresting. The combination of old faces and much younger bodies delivers this, but behind it is a serious message: the food you put in your body has a significant effect on your life. If you eat foods that are naturally full of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, you&'re inevitably going to feel better.&"
Consumers may be convinced - but will buyers? In the final instalment of our campaign next month, we put Nature&'s 18 Superfoods to the trade and ask whether retailers would stock it.n
Growing younger TV ad
Honourable mentions
The television commercial opens with a blank frame into which bounces a child on a trampoline. Because he's bouncing, we can't actually see his face clearly. He bounces in and out of the frame as the voiceover talks about superfoods being an essential part of everyone's diet. We pull back to reveal that the trampoline (which was out of shot) is in fact a Nature's 18 box. Finally the child stops and sits on the edge of the box. Now we can see that the child is actually an adult. The ad closes with a pack shot and the voiceover saying "Nature's 18 - Helping you grow younger".
The losing concepts are IceGuys/Isobar and Winterfold Farm. James Parker, Parker Fine Foods' commercial director, likes IceGuys: "Simple, easy to manufacture and a very involving product; can see this working well under a number of branded characters." But he thinks Winterfold Farm has "disaster written all over it", while James Cook, director of Eazycuizine, says: "Loose frozen veg is on the downturn in farmshops."
Nature&'s 18 Superfoods has captured the imagination of The Grocer&'s readers and has been voted the unanimous winner in our challenge to create a new brand designed to reinvigorate the frozen food category.
After we shortlisted three contenders in part two of our frozen challenge (The Grocer, 15 April 2006), readers voted for the concept they felt had the most commercial potential. The overwhelming winner, Nature&'s 18 Superfoods, is a range of predominantly frozen but also fresh products that make up the 18 superfoods rich in natural plant nutrients that should be part of a healthy diet.
The range would be available separately and also in Balance Boxes, which would include a selection of different superfoods, each containing nutrients benefiting a different part of the body. Interlink Foods chief executive Paul Griffiths, who voted for this idea, says: &"I think the concept has the potential to embrace a wider range of products along the line of &'contains superfoods&' and in time could command space in stores in the way we are seeing growth in organic and wholefoods&' space. In my opinion, it deserves further development.&"
Meanwhile, Andrew Thornton, of consultancy Srcg, was not the only voter to say: &"What a great concept. When will it be available for retailers to stock?&"
One of the ideas behind our campaign was to develop products that would bring new people to the category and help rid it of its downmarket and discount image. Our winning concept certainly appears to have achieved this. Says Maria Murphy, senior national account manager at Müller: &"I never shop in the frozen isles, but I would certainly make the trip to buy this product. My partner and I try to eat healthily, but time is often against us and I end up chucking fresh veg. I love this concept because it&'s so convenient and the health messages on the packet really appeal to me.&"
So the idea is a hit, but how should it be marketed? Branding and communications agency DNX, which devised the creative and brand positioning for our three shortlisted products, has come up with the advertising pitch you see on these pages. The campaign is based on growing young, not old.
&"The trade has been looking for a catalyst to rejuvenate the frozen food aisle. Nature&'s 18 could be it. Freezing is the ultimate preservative - and what better way to lock in the goodness of nature&'s masterpieces,&" says DNX joint MD Drew Nicholson.
&"Growing young means a fit active body - whatever your age. Because it would be easy for the consumer to dismiss Nature&'s 18 as &'just a load of vegetables&', we decided our campaign needed to be visually arresting. The combination of old faces and much younger bodies delivers this, but behind it is a serious message: the food you put in your body has a significant effect on your life. If you eat foods that are naturally full of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, you&'re inevitably going to feel better.&"
Consumers may be convinced - but will buyers? In the final instalment of our campaign next month, we put Nature&'s 18 Superfoods to the trade and ask whether retailers would stock it.n
Growing younger TV ad
Honourable mentions
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