If one were listing quintessential American comfort foods, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese would likely be near the top. So would ice cream.
And so Kraft Heinz's internal marketing team, known as The Kitchen, took a very modern approach to showcasing these iconic foods: a partnership with ice cream maker Van Leeuwen tocreate ice cream that looks and tastes like the product in the iconic blue box。杰西·沃尔塔吉奥（Jess Vultaggio），卡夫·亨氏（Kraft Heinz）副总裁兼厨房负责人，解释了使合作伙伴关系工作的原因。
"When the idea came to combine these two classic comfort foods in a really fun, uplifting way, what was really great is ... hav[ing] a partner in Van Leeuwen, who are the experts in ice cream. Combine that with our R&D and culinary and sensory experts who are experts in the flavor and the experience that really triggers a uniquely Kraft Macaroni & Cheese taste and experience," Vultaggio said.
The bright orange ice cream — which quickly sold out when it was first made available last summer, and is currently on shelves at Walmart stores nationwide — is one of many unconventional product releases Kraft Heinz has done over the last few years. The CPG behemoth has also createdGrey Poupon wine, an Oscar Meyer博洛尼亚风格的面膜and acandy-flavored mix-in for Macaroni & Cheese。Vultaggio said these products are a mash up of new ideas, attention-grabbing marketing, consumer research and unconventional ways to showcase what consumers love about the iconic CPG products.
Vultaggio说，内部营销团队正在扩大规模，成为一家将近150人的内部机构，以结合创意，社会战略，生产和品牌战略。Kraft Heinz还与外部合作伙伴网络合作进行营销。但是这些非常规产品既是营销，又是更多。
During the initial sale of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese ice cream, the brand's social engagement performance surpassed internal expectations by 300%, Vultaggio said. Considering the made-for-social-media nature of the product, this wasn't necessarily a surprise — but they also rose 4% for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese itself.
"People who are aware of the product then say, 'OK, I'm gonna consider buying it,' and then, 'Oh, I actually did buy it and I'm now loyal to it,' " Vultaggio said. "You see measures on those actually switch and evolve in a positive way with the target consumer."
所有挑战者品牌
The strategy shift that created the unconventional products is a part of a seismic change in Kraft Heinz's operations and plans for growth.
After revelations of大规模损失和采购管理不善in 2019, Kraft Heinz brought inCEO Miguel Patricio。他changed a lot about the way Kraft Heinz does business，简化运营并将公司的知名品牌组织到消费者使用的平台上。借助新平台，该公司计划增加30％的营销支出，并将重点放在消费者如何使用和响应其产品上。
同时，新公司策略采用的是人们如何获得有关品牌的信息发生了巨大变化。Vultaggio说，CPG公司的旧工具包能够通过在一些大型媒体渠道中使用声音来推动对话。卡夫·海因兹（Kraft Heinz）可能在食品业务中拥有一些最具悠久的品牌，但他们都在社交媒体饲料中争夺消费者的眼睛和注意力。卡夫·海因兹（Kraft Heinz）的消息不仅要在货架上脱颖而出，还必须在名人视频，有趣的模因和引人注目的推文中脱颖而出。
Kraft Heinz has also changed the way it looks at its brands, Vultaggio said. While they are iconic options in the food industry, the company now has the mindset that they're all challenger brands — a term for a smaller brand that is trying to disrupt an existing space. With so many more messages to disrupt in today's information-heavy society, Vultaggio said that "challenger" takes on a new definition, but the products are all still trying to earn their spot in the heart of today's consumer.
“我们在过去的一年中进行了翻新，并且通过翻新，我的意思是基本上将我们的品牌剥夺到他们的基础，直到螺柱上，并在他们的核心上找到他们的DNA是什么，以及他们带来的价值是什么，他们对消费者的价值是什么沃尔塔吉奥说：“生活，然后根据他们重建整体体验。”“一旦您知道您的品牌代表什么以及对您的目标消费者的震惊，那么我们就可以在文化中狩猎我们可以做的事情。”
The product mashups, Vultaggio said, are new ways to communicate this. And because they're largely unconventional collaborations, they often stand out in a social media feed. It's hard not to stop scrolling and take another look at a picture of a woman wearing a bologna-inspired facial mask, or bright pink macaroni and cheese.
Vultaggio说：“当他们询问或好奇并单击和学习更多时，您能够提供一些我们所知道的事实，这些真相将对他们引人入胜，并建立品牌爱情，建立产品好奇心和试验。”。
谁想到了？
Vultaggio说，这些产品的想法来自各种来源。
They come from looking at what consumers see as the true meaning of brands. In the case of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, it's comfort food. For Grey Poupon, it's affordable luxury. And for Oscar Mayer bologna, it's a sense of nostalgia and fun.
There's also tapping into social media and consumer behavior.Mayochup— Heinz's "Saucy Sauce" that blended mayonnaise and ketchup — came from consumers asking for it on social media, Vultaggio said.他inz Dip & Crunch— a two-in-one package with hamburger dipping sauce and potato crunchers — is a newer product born from a TikTok craze. And consumers often mixed other flavors and food items into their Macaroni & Cheese, Vultaggio said. This behavior led to the pink candy Macaroni & Cheese, a南瓜香料混合物that debuted in Canada, and风味增强包装to add Kickin' Buffalo, Creamy Ranch and Zesty Pizza flavors to macaroni and cheese.
"It's another data point that helps the team understand that the idea of mixing things in, of doctoring the flavor is something our consumers are already doing, so is there an opportunity for us to help them? Pair up some flavors that we know are going to be excellent with our product and make it available through D-to-C [direct to consumer] to them?" Vultaggio said.
When the team comes up with an idea for an unconventional limited-time product, Kraft Heinz's R&D team works to create it, sometimes in conjunction with another manufacturer. Vultaggio said they all work to ensure a quality product, but they don't necessarily spend a lot of time evaluating business decisions like pricing, profit and loss, and manufacturing. There's only a limited run of these items, so the research on a wide launch isn't needed.
What is important, Vultaggio said, is ensuring that the products are more than just a quick flash in the pan. Granted, she said, they do make quite a splash. Consumer publications and morning TV show hosts love to talk about the unconventional mashups. Vultaggio said that "Today" show commentators Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hageroften talk about these productsinthe same way that consumers do。On segments where the duo is sampling the products, Vultaggio said, one of them tends to be excited about the experimental item and the other is hesitant.
但是，要注意使产品本身最高质量。面包车LeeuwenVultaggio说，以优质的冰淇淋而闻名，通心粉和奶酪品脱达到了高水平。她说，奥斯卡·梅耶·博洛尼亚（Oscar Mayer Bologna）面具是与韩国护肤公司首尔马马斯（Seoul Mamas）合作制作的，并且是一些最好的保湿口罩。
"The execution of them is actually done with quality and care in mind, so it's something that delights the consumer," Vultaggio said. "It's not just a gag that, once you get below the surface, there's not much to it. I think that's been a real driver of why these things end up not just being like a quick flash in the pan, but become something that people actually engaged with, and say, 'I can't believe I actually loved that mask and want another one.' 'I can't believe that ice cream. Can you please make it widely available?' "
Vultaggio said Kraft Heinz also takes care to only do the kinds of projects and products that will actually say something to consumers. The option of taking shortcuts — partnering with trendy food, drink and apparel brands that target Gen Zers and younger consumers — is always available. Vultaggio said that while that could help a brand to quickly feel cool and relevant, there's no deep strategy behind it. And without truly thinking through what the product will mean to consumers, it may not reach its intended goal.
卡夫的目标,最重要的事情他inz gets out of these limited time product launches — is relevance, Vultaggio said. If Kraft Heinz is doing something fun with its products and making options that are more pertinent to consumers' lives, they're more relevant. And, Vultaggio said, that also plays out as sales, social media mentions and brand affinity grows.
Vultaggio说：“他们看到我们正在积极投资建立我们的品牌和了解我们的消费者，并且知道什么使他们打勾，以及什么使我们的品牌在他们的背景下唱歌。”“从中流出了很多指标，但是相关性是我认为我们觉得自己一直在失去的东西 - 但它确实回来了。”
这个故事已更新，以反映杰西·沃尔塔吉奥（Jess Vultaggio）的最新标题。
