Welcome to the August issue of MarketWell, a monthly newsletter for marketers in the wellbeing space, by Felicity.

This month, the team at Felicity was charmed by Kraft’s newest campaign, which reframes how we look at wellbeing. It takes the focus off of nutrition and food choices as the ultimate indicator of wellbeing, and instead, takes these in context of families’ lives during the pandemic. It’s truly an example of listening to the pain points of consumers and delivering a solution…and a sigh of relief.

There has never been a better time to provide content that helps solve your audience’s problems and pet peeves. As you’ll read below, media companies are cutting budgets and lifestyle journalism is on the chopping block. That means that many people will go looking for their wellbeing stories elsewhere. Could your brand be that destination?

In this edition of MarketWell, we’ll take a look at:

1. Wellbeing from around the web: Is Cameron Diaz “well-washing” with her new wine? How can Canada be more sustainable post-COVID-19? Why are luxury retailers looking to Walmart for customer service inspiration?
2. Fact or fad: What is “nutritional momentum” and does it have any merit? Felicity registered dietitian Nishta Saxena weighs in.
3. The check-up: Kraft mac & cheese for breakfast? Yep. It’s a wellbeing campaign. Find out why.
4. Felicity wellbeing marketing monitor: Is lifestyle journalism dying? Depends on whom you talk to. Either way, our team sees a real opportunity for marketers to fill the (possible) void.

Wellbeing from around the web

Cameron Diaz is selling a ‘clean’ wine, but the term is quite muddy
Cameron Diaz and fashion entrepreneur Katherine Power (co-founder of celeb style and fashion trend site Who What Wear) have launched what they are calling a clean wine, but skeptics are calling it well-washing.

A green COVID-19 recovery: How Canada can chart a sustainable path forward for the economy
Canada’s environmental groups are putting together a plan to chart a path towards sustainability when rebuilding the post-COVID-19 economy. What processes can you improve upon when adapting to our “new normal”?

Luxury retailers forced to develop high-end versions of Walmart curbside pickup
How do you serve an audience that’s accustomed to highly-personalized in-person shopping experiences, now that we’re living in the midst of a global pandemic? This piece explores some creative ways that luxury brands are delivering high quality customer service without their signature high-touch, face-to-face interaction.

 

Fact or fad: Can nutritional momentum really improve your health?

In his book Fiber Fueled, Gastroenterologist Will Bulsiewicz writes about the power of nutritional momentum. He discussed the concept in this piece by Emily Laurence for Well + Good. In short, as the article outlines, “Make healthy food choices and they will only gain momentum, leading to healthy consequences.”

While it sounds promising, we wanted to truly understand the term, so we turned to Felicity registered dietitian Nishta Saxena for her insight.

“The author has coined a term that basically means being consistent,” says Saxena, adding that it seems like people are trying to sugar-coat practical concepts in fancy wrapping. “I like his philosophy. I love the fact that he’s talking about fibre. Fibre is definitely the hands-down best part of eating a diet made up of a diverse selection of plants. And diversity of our diet is actually supportive of long term health and the diversity of gut flora.”

How can wellness marketers use nutritional momentum to promote their products? Focus on the idea of consistency, says Saxena. She suggests starting by demonstrating the benefits of the product or service while underlining the importance of consistent use, to yield results.

But, adds Saxena, brands have to be careful not to lose the trust of their consumers by telling them to take or use something every day without truly showing them why and how the product will benefit them. “Now more than ever, people have less disposable income and will be less likely to buy your product on a whim.”

On the other hand, Saxena says that nutritional momentum is an amazing angle for wellbeing products that don’t require a lot of money or emotional investment. This applies specifically to non-harmful, non-addictive, self care treatments that fit into wellness. “If your customer feels better, the momentum they can get from feeling better is worth something—even if there’s not much science behind it.”

 

Image: Kraft

The check-up

Kraft is selling mac & cheese for breakfast—because parents “100% need a break.” In a time fraught with difficulties for parents, this campaign definitely stands out. We’ve done a check-up on Kraft’s new campaign by applying our 5-Step Rx for marketing well.

The ad starts off showing people waking up calmly, then features what look like home videos of kids screaming and causing chaos. Parents present their child with a warm bowl of mac & cheese and everyone is quiet and smiling. Here’s a transcript:

“It’s morning.
The sun is shining.
The birds are chirping.
Your kids…
Are screaming.
So start their day with a bowl
Of Kraft Mac & Cheese for breakfast.
It’s the same Mac they love but 100% more breakfastier.
Because you 100% need a break.
Kraft Mac & Cheese. Now for breakfast.
Kraft for the win win.”

Step 1: Use meaningful language
In the Kraft Mac & Cheese breakfast ad, the language used is tongue-in-cheek. They are playing with the idea that of course it’s the same mac & cheese as before, but they playfully say it’s “breakfastier.” While the word “breakfastier” itself isn’t meaningful, the message is clear. “You [meaning parents], 100% need a break.”

Step 2: Rethink what wellness looks like
In the Kraft commercial, wellbeing is about making things simple and dialing down stress levels for the whole family. No fights over what your kids are going to eat for breakfast means that life is easier for everyone. The friction that’s caused when mac & cheese rubs shoulders with wellbeing makes the audience take notice, and makes them feel better about doing what needs to be done to get through the morning.

Step 3: Leverage real influence
Kraft is using real people to not only spread the word about their new campaign but to help people help others. Helping consumers do good is a great way to connect with an audience during difficult times. Kraft promised to donate 10 boxes of mac & cheese to Feed the Children for every tweet using the hashtag #KMCforbreakfast.

Step 4: Offline is the new online
Kraft created only a limited number of mac & cheese breakfast boxes, including a placemat to colour, a magnet and a mug and offered consumers the opportunity to win one. This created online engagement and excitement around their new campaign while awarding a select few the chance to engage with the product in new ways in real life.

Step 5: Own your conversation
We’d love to see some original content around the stresses of parenting, and strategies for peaceful family moments—particularly during a pandemic. Other tongue-in-cheek tips for ways to make parenting fun and easy would be a joy to read.

Our Diagnosis
The Kraft Mac & Cheese for breakfast campaign is playful, connects with the purchaser (parents) instantly and successfully makes people question what wellbeing looks like. Original content and some input from a dietitian offering relatable reassurance that mac & cheese in the morning is actually totally acceptable could make this campaign even stronger.

 

Felicity wellbeing marketing monitor: How media layoffs leave an opening for marketers in the lifestyle space

Layoffs in Canadian media are making headlines. The executive editor of Refinery 29 Canada has declared the slow death of lifestyle journalism. The journalists on our team weigh in on how marketers can provide the kind of lifestyle content that their audiences may be missing as a result.

We asked Sandra E. Martin, editor-in-chief of Felicity Content Studios and MoneySense, Dave Trafford, Newstalk 1010 morning show host and producer and Vanessa Grant, writer and editor for their thoughts.

What are your thoughts about lifestyle content slowly (and sometimes swiftly) being removed from major news outlets?

Dave Trafford: I would disagree, somewhat, with the idea that “lifestyle content” is being removed by major news outlets. I would suggest that the lifestyle beat reporters, like sports, investigative and business reporters, are a dying breed. It started in local newsrooms decades ago and now we’re seeing it play out in major markets and national newsrooms across the country.

It doesn’t mean “lifestyle” stories aren’t being told. It only means those stories now compete for real estate in newscasts and newspaper lineups with the “news of the day” and they’re being covered by general assignment reporters.

Do you foresee consumers going elsewhere for lifestyle content?

Sandra E. Martin: They already are. Blogs and social media have created a proliferation of lifestyle content. Many brands are reaching out to audiences directly, cultivating their own in-house content teams, or hiring content studios to do so. However, not all content is created equal; that cheap and plentiful content typically doesn’t have the same trustworthiness or journalistic credibility as journalist-produced lifestyle content. (And the same is true for news content.)

Do you see an opportunity for marketers to fill the void?

Vanessa Grant: There is definitely an opportunity for marketers to create the kind of lighthearted yet informative content that audiences crave. While of course social media and personal blogs can provide lifestyle and wellness content, a lot of it is missing expertise and authority.

Quality lifestyle content can’t be produced overnight. If you could share one piece of advice with marketers looking to create lifestyle content consumers want, what would it be?

Sandra E. Martin: Marketers are tasked with conveying the client’s message—but that message will fall on deaf ears if marketer-produced lifestyle content doesn’t offer real value for audiences. All good, enduring and shareable lifestyle content has to solve a problem or otherwise enrich the lives of the intended audience.

“News Editors and product marketers alike should pay attention to Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. They would tell you there are only two kinds of music—the good kind and the other kind.”

– Dave Trafford, Newstalk 1010 morning show host and producer

Dave Trafford: Marketing and communications professionals should use the newsroom as their model. Tell your story against the backdrop of life events that are playing out in the world.

Be your own newsroom. Build stories around brands. Build content around the stories. Create your own platform to publish and promote your content, (your podcasts, your blogs, your video testimonials). But make sure it’s all about the audience. Make sure that it leads with purpose and then gets to product.

Good news for most brands is there are all kinds of skilled journalists out there who know how to do this for you. My last bit of advice would be to add a few journalists to your roster and they’ll know how to help you build your own newsroom.

The Felicity Content Studios brings top storytellers and journalists together to support your brand’s content goals. Learn more about our approach.