Excuse me, would you like a sample?

Remember how we discussed in previous blogs that KRAFT products mainly sell convenient foods? In that they are quick and easy to prepare to eat- now call me an old fashioned girl- but some of these new convenience foods on the market today do not seem too appetizing. Such as those “Hungry Man” ready to eat microwaveable dinners- yuck! Now, no offense to all you Lean Cuisine lovers (i.e. my roommates)- but a frozen “Shrimp & Angel Hair Pasta” dinner that I have to heat up in the microwave after being in my freezer for God knows how long is not my meal of choice. I would much prefer to cook my OWN seafood, thank you very much. According to several studies over the years, these frozen dinner meals are loaded with crazy high amounts of fat and sodium content, plus preservatives to keep the food (at least, to be appearing) fresh. Check out an article in women’s health: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/frozen-food-meals However, due to our fast-paced style of living in the good old US of A, convenience foods are quite popular amongst the working generations. Perhaps we do not have to purchase our breakfast, lunches and dinners all in frozen microwaveable meals, but a few convenience items are an exception. For instance, take KRAFT’s new “Bagel-fuls”. According to KRAFT’s press release, a “Bagel-ful” is a bagel with cream cheese rolled into one; http://www.kraftfoodscompany.com/MediaCenter/country-press-releases/us/2008/us_pr_04092008.htmtry-press-releases/us/2008/us_pr_04092008.htm. A highly convenient breakfast food, this “bagel” can be popped in the microwave or toaster oven and ready to be taken on the road in a matter of seconds. Hm, that even sounds good to me…

So how did KRAFT publicize their new product? In April 2008 KRAFT foods launched their “sampling” tour with introducing the “Bagel-fuls”. It is only appropriate that they launched their tour in the bagel capital of the world- New York City. A popular bagel café right near Times Square-the Bagel & Bean cafe, was transformed into a Bagel-Ful café on April 9, 2008. KRAFT got a hold of celebrity Joy Behar (pictured at event on below right), co-host of ABC’s “The View”, to serve the Bagel-fuls at the café. According to KRAFT’s release on the event, the “Morning commuters will be pleasantly surprised when they come face-to-face with Joy’s wit, wisdom, and a warm, golden Bagel-fuls sample”. So how did the busy new Yorkers know about the event? Well I googled the new Bagel-ful item several times- and nothing came up on any large circulation news papers, or over even on smaller New York City papers/magazines. But- what I did find was their release on prnewswire.com, allbusiness.com and promomagazine.com. Allbusiness.com said that KRAFT informed New Yorkers with “bagel carts and walking billboards”. Also local TV stations interviewed some consumers at the café. I also looked up the event on Automatic Merchandiser (amonline.com), in which they said the event was very organized and resulted in providing hundreds of New Yorkers with free samples.

According to promagazine.com, Kraft’s major hook with this new product is providing samples of the new Bagel-fuls across several different US cities: http://promomagazine.com/sampling/news/kraft_promotes_bagel-fuls_sampling_tour_0409/. This sampling campaign included a 20-city sampling tour during the 2008 summer season. Eventmarker.com said that KRAFT’s sampling campaign was supported by national TV ads, regional radio promotions and in-store sampling events. I found the commercial on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjb_A8A6F3I&feature=PlayList&p=3AD35FC1BFF33B80&index=0&playnext=1 Furthermore, street teams, branded pushcarts and branded trucks stormed the various cities that were on KRAFT’s sampling campaign itinerary. Basil Maglan, KRAFT’s spokesperson, said, “We feel Bagel-fuls will appeal to the on-the-go consumers so we want to reach those consumers where they are in high traffic areas”.

KRAFT got it right. I believe their sampling campaign is a very effective way to promote a new food product. Seriously- who would pass up on a free food sample? Launching the campaign in NYC, the bagel capital of the world, was a great idea- plus getting a celebrity to endorse the product could not have hurt it. Also, I really liked the method in which they used to give away the samples on the streets in the cities, by dispensing the product away as people are literally on the go- thus it being a convenience food- people can walk and eat them on their way to work. To be honest, I think KRAFT did an excellent job promoting these bagels. The sampling campaign is an innovative and interactive way to promote a product, and seems quite appropriate for a food product. If I was KRAFT's PR person, I would have employed the same techniques. In terms of their launching event in NYC, as a PR person, I do not think I would send out releases to NYC newspapers or magazines. Manhattan is busy enough as it is- with tons and tons of people walking to work- thus they were bound to attract a large number of people into their coffee shop for a free tasting. If the event was publicized to a NYC print media resource (which, it very well could have been- but I did not find it online), perhaps it would have been too hetic and thus turn people away.