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June 14, 2004 - Strategy Magazine
News

Unilever's Carb Options: will Canadians bite?

by Lisa D'Innocenzo
page 3

Canadians may have slim options in the voting booth, but at least they now have more options on the grocery shelf. Or that's what Toronto-based Unilever Canada is telling them.

Its new Carb Options lineup - imported from Atkins-crazed America - brings together familiar names like Knorr, Skippy and Hellmann's under a new label. Realizing that most wouldn't likely forgo their usual peanut butter for something unknown, the idea is that these trusted national brands - even if they are secondary on the light-and-dark blue packaging - will convince consumers to give the reformulated products a try.

Explains Geoff Craig, marketing director: "It's always tough launching a new brand - and it's expensive. So that's where I think people trust our brands in terms of offering them taste and variety." During research, taste came back as a major issue among "low-fat," "light" and "low-carb" food connoisseurs.

But Unilever is taking a gamble that the low-carb obsession isn't just a fad. "Depending on what poll or study you read, over 60% of Canadians are interested in watching their carbs or certainly have an awareness about it," notes Craig. "We're in the business of looking after consumer needs and offering them [product geared at] the way they want to live their lifestyle today. We're obviously hoping for a long-term movement or we wouldn't have made this play."

There's also significant media investment behind the launch, although Craig won't specify how much.

The ad theme is interesting enough. The Carb Options Party is a mock political group. Tactics encompass guerrilla efforts, such as a campaign bus, politically charged radio advertising from Toronto agency Ogilvy & Mather, and public stints by the "candidates." The main slogan is "zesty new options for a carb-conscious tomorrow and a tastier today."

On a more serious note, print advertising explains the virtues of the new eats - that they're low-carb and they taste great. The brand will also be supported via the Web site carboptions.ca, which is chock-full of recipes, and Ogilvy's custom magazine Home Basics, while sampling is also a key component of the marketing strategy - for obvious reasons.

This is all so that when consumers come across Carb Options in the store, where the merchandise will most likely be distributed throughout the aisles and not as a unit, they'll know what they're looking at. Will consumers bite? Strategy asked three branding experts to weigh in. Unfortunately the prognosis isn't good.

JP Lacroix, president, Shikatani Lacroix, Toronto

The execution of this strategy was extremely well done because they really talk specifically to the consumer need.

Unilever is very clearly differentiating [the product] as a low-carb option and making it very easy, in a blink of an eye, to make that distinction.

On the other hand, building brand equity around a fad could be disastrous because you look opportunist.

The real trend right now is called "balanced nutrition," and it's about finding the right balance between weight loss and health - that's what consumers are looking for long-term.

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