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April 2008 - Strategy Magazine
Upfront

Michelina's dances away from jingle

by Annette Bourdeau
page 8

Goodbye Macarena. Hello Mama.

Frozen dinner brand Michelina's is ditching its Macarena-inspired jingles in favour of a tough Italian mama, Michelina Pastarelli, who bullies people into eating her food. The new positioning was developed with Toronto-based John St., and the new tag is "Let Mama Feed You."

"We felt that the category had become somewhat commoditized, and we wanted to do something with personality," says John Yen, director, consumer marketing at Toronto-based Bellisio Foods Canada. "This is about as irreverent as I've seen this category get."

Two TV spots broke last month, as well as a multifaceted effort built around the character on Facebook. Mama has her own corporate page, as well as her own grassroots "profile."

The corporate page will house the TV spots, advergames and regular vlogs by Mama. The latter will also be seeded on YouTube.

"[The Facebook profile] is really an opportunity to build a rapport with our target," says Yen, adding that the target is

tech-savvy, tends to have a spontaneous, "carpe diem" mindset and eats to live rather than living to eat.

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