Quick: Name one highly creative advertiser. Bet your first choice wasn’t Kraft.
The company that brought the world “My bologna has a first name” and “We helped!” for Shake and Bake is unlikely to ever go down in the ad annals next to Nike or Apple. But North America’s largest food company — about to become even larger with the addition of Cadbury — is making strides toward updating the look and tone of its advertising while keeping it as accessible as possible for consumers.
It’s a mission that brought a large Kraft contingent to Cannes last year and it begins at the top with CEO Irene Rosenfeld. “All the way from Irene, the marketing is important,” said Dana Anderson, senior VP-marketing, noting “the [creative] bar is higher.” Agency vet Ms. Anderson is charged, along with CMO Mary Beth West and Mark Stewart, VP-global media, to step up Kraft’s marketing game. It does have a strong heritage to defend: Kraft was one of the first national marketers, pioneering sponsored content on radio and TV.
Kraft is also putting its money where its mouth is by increasing marketing support. Spending has hovered around 7% of total sales, but media rates have fallen, and sales have grown to $42 billion in 2008 from $36 billion in 2007. Kraft reports full-year 2009 results next week.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Chicago Business
