Welcome to The Week in Consumer Packaged Goods, a weekly round-up for marketers from Quad Insights that covers the latest must-know news surrounding the CPG space.
Goldfish enters chip category with creation of Goldfish Crisps
The Campbell Soup Company announced on Thursday the launch of its new Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crisps, which “combine the best of Goldfish and the best of chips” into a “light and airy” baked snack in the same goldfish shape, per a company statement. Larger than traditional Goldfish, the new snack is the first by the brand to be made with potatoes and comes in three “chip-inspired” flavors: Sour Cream & Onion, Cheddar and Salt & Vinegar.
While the Goldfish brand has been ranked the leading snack among teens for five years in a row, according to a Piper Sandler Survey — earning the brand nearly $1 billion in annual sales — Goldfish sales and earnings dipped in the last quarter, the Courier Post’s Jim Walsh reports. Top executives, however, have “predicted improvements” with the introduction of this new Goldfish product, Walsh writes.
McCormick announces tamarind as “Flavor of the Year”
On Wednesday, leading manufacturer of spices and seasonings McCormick & Company announced its 2024 “Flavor of the Year,” identifying tamarind as the spice most likely to gain in popularity and use over the next year. Native to Africa, India and the Middle East, tamarind is known for its acidic, tangy-sweet flavor — making it a common element in Latin, Caribbean and Mexican cuisines, per a company statement.
Released as part of McCormick’s Flavor Forecast 24th Edition, an annual report highlighting the latest culinary trends, the flavor of the year was determined by a global team of McCormick experts. Led by Hadar Cohen Aviram, Executive Chef and Senior Manager, Culinary Development, U.S. Consumer at McCormick, the team annually seeks out trending flavors from around the world, Jordan Valinsky of CNN Business reports.
Featured in McCormick’s new Tamarind & Pasilla Chile Seasoning, the flavor will be used to create several limited-edition menu items — from burgers to milkshakes — at the global restaurant chain Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer beginning Feb. 1.
Bud Light partners with NFL legends to promote “Largest Super Bowl Giveaway Ever”
Bud Light is leaning into its status as the Official Beer Sponsor of the NFL through a new partnership with Super Bowl Champions Peyton Manning and Emmitt Smith. In a new commercial titled “Easy Rounds,” Manning orders a round of Bud Light for an entire bar and proceeds to pass cans out with “deep throws, Hail Mary’s and perfect spirals,” per an Anheuser-Busch statement. He is eventually joined by Smith, who calls the touchdown as the crowd cheers.
With both 15- and 30-second versions running through the 2023 NFL playoff season, the commercial is designed to “build hype ahead of the playoffs and prepare for [Bud Light’s] biggest Super Bowl ticket giveaway to date,” Marketing Dive’s Jessica Deyo reports. That giveaway, which kicked off Dec. 1, offers fans 21 years and older the chance to win NFL Playoff and Super Bowl tickets by scanning QR codes on Bud Light packaging and by “showing off their Bud Light love” on social media, per the statement. Additional prizes include tickets to the Bud Light Backyard Tour with Zach Bryan, as well as gift cards for UberEats and Instacart to help prepare for at-home Super Bowl parties.
The promotion is part of the Anheuser-Busch brand’s larger “Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy” platform launched during Super Bowl LVII.
Related coverage:
- “Bud Light ad stars Peyton Manning and Emmitt Smith as brand touts Super Bowl ticket giveaway” (Ad Age)
ICYMI: Gillette launches “Reset with Gillette” campaign to promote grooming in gaming
Gillette has launched a new campaign focused on encouraging men in the gaming community to reset after a night of gaming, to “come back a better player and look sharp for the day with a fresh shave,” per a company statement. “Reset with Gillette,” as the campaign is titled, will include as part of its official launch a partnership with the Esports Awards to feature content throughout the program.
Also, the six-year-old Gillette Gaming Alliance is expanding beyond its “all-star streaming roster,” per a company statement, to include passive viewers and active participants, with regions around the world having teams that represent their country, culture and language. Alliance members will help create custom-branded content for the “Reset with Gillette” campaign across Twitch, YouTube and social media platforms. “New and returning members of the Alliance include the United Kingdom’s AJ3, France’s Idreau and Mexico’s Elded, who would be talking about their personal ‘reset routines’ with Gillette,” Marketing-Interactive’s Boo Ping Er reports.
The campaign follows the launch of the Procter & Gamble-owned brand’s GilletteLabs Razer limited-edition X Razer shaving set, a collaboration between Gillette and Razer, a leading lifestyle brand for gamers.
Further reading
- “E.l.f. Cosmetics Brings Lipstick to Snapchat Bitmojis” (Adweek)
- “General Mills leans into cereal as a snack with new twists on old favorites” (Food Dive)
- “Hellmann’s returns to Super Bowl for fourth straight year” (Ad Age)
- “White Claw debuts alcohol-free line” (The Spirits Business)
- “Heinz creates tattoo-ready label for die-hard fans” (Brand Innovators)
- “Impossible Foods Will Test Out Plant-Based Hot Dogs at NYC Pop-Up” (Daily Meal)
- “Food brands bet on gift sets to drive holiday sales” (Modern Retail)
- “More grocery shoppers want transparency with sourcing, research finds” (Grocery Dive)
- “Daiya to ‘Revitalize the Category’s Market Potential’ with Natural Fermentation Recipe Switch” (Vegconomist)
- “Snickers Spots Joel McHale’s Tastebuds in Wacky Workout Spot” (Adweek)
- “Pringles will return to the Super Bowl for the seventh consecutive year” (Campaign US)
- “Mtn Dew surveils Twitch streamers in new stunt with image recognition technology” (Ad Age)
Thanks for reading. We’ll see you next week.
If you’d like to catch up on prior installments of this column, start by heading to last week’s recap: “The Week in Consumer Packaged Goods: December 1, 2023”
