Johnsonville connects with Canadians over hockey, multicultural meals and backyard barbecuing
Canadians know that making food delicious is all in the details. That’s why Johnsonville, the biggest sausage brand in the world, is deepening its connection with Canadians through a new campaign that’s celebrating its rich history as an experienced, successful and the most authentic purveyor of quality sausages.
Created in partnership with Cramer-Krasselt, Toronto-based Matchstick and Braque, which adapted the campaign for French Canada, Johnsonville’s campaign aims to surprise and delight Canadian consumers through a number of touchpoints.
“In our research, we really wanted to understand if Canadians would be open to buying sausage made in America,” said Bob Fitzgerald, Director, International Business Development, Johnsonville Sausage. “We were glad to find out they just want a brand that cares as much about quality and freshness as they do, which is certainly true of Johnsonville and has been since 1945.”
The campaign includes a TV spot and print ads, created by Milwaukee-based Cramer-Krasselt, which take viewers back to Johnsonville’s humble, small-town beginnings 70 years ago. They show that while the butcher shop where it was born might have changed quite a bit since then, the family recipe that gave birth to Johnsonville’s sumptuous sausages has stayed exactly the same. They also welcome Canadians to Johnsonville, Wisconsin, the birthplace of Johnsonville sausages, and the place from which all of Johnsonville’s sausages are delivered to the rest of the world, as well as show Canadians how to spice up their recipes with Johnsonville sausage.
The campaign also includes a significant social media component, which was developed by Toronto-based Matchstick, that’s being brought to life on platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Johnsonville’s mobile-optimized website, which will launch at the end of June. It’s sharing content that, while telling the Johnsonville story, uses four other key storytelling themes — the unique flavour of Johnsonville, the backyard experience, the big game at home and a multicultural feast — to promote things like recipe inspirations and barbecue tips. Key influencers, both online and through influencer events, will also be leveraged, as well as ongoing promotions.
Like most Canadians, Johnsonville values community, camaraderie and good food. Knowing that hockey is the great Canadian pastime, and that Canadians like nothing more than coming together over big hockey games in particular, the campaign is significantly leveraging the atmosphere and fandamomium that comes part-and-parcel with the Stanley Cup playoffs. Johnsonville’s spring and early summer TV ad buying strategy centres on the playoffs, and social media is being used to share with Canadians perfect game-time meals, demonstrating that along with the barbecue, Johnsonville sausages are the perfect companion for watching the big game at home. The campaign is creating and sharing content around other key Canadian events throughout the year, including Family Day, Victoria Day, the summer weekend and Canadian Thanksgiving.
Canada is a country of diverse food sophistication, where Canadians can draw upon a rich history of multiculturalism to find fantastic recipes. To that end, Johnsonville’s campaign will also use social media to serve up some multicultural recipe suggestions: like serving pirogies accompanied with Johnsonville sausages; exploring the flavours of Portugal with Johnsonville sausages, a dash of piri piri, a bit of bayleaf and a sprinkle of paprika; and spicing up spaghetti with Johnsonville’s Italian meatballs. In particular, Canadian foodies can flock to Johnsonville’s Twitter account, @JohnsonvilleCA, every week for #foodiefriday to find a digital smorgasbord of inspiring recipe ideas.
Johnsonville knows that, as avid foodies, Canadians take the quality of their food very seriously. By focusing on its rich history, and demonstrating that everything Johnsonville is and everything it does goes into its sausages, Johnsonville wants Canadians to know that its commitment to quality and authenticity is paramount. The campaign is currently in market and will continue to run through the end of the year.
Client: Johnsonville
Region: Canada
Campaign: TV, Print, Social Media
Agency: Cramer-Krasselt
Creative Director & Copywriter: Nick Marrazza
Art Director: Josiah Werning
Senior Broadcast Producer: Dinah Goris
Senior Art Buyer: Karen Kirsch
Vice President, Group Account Director: Jamie Schmelzer
Senior Account Executive: Janee Wolf
Account Executive: Jackie Hendricks
PRINT:
Photographer: Dan Goldberg
Retoucher: Gina Ferrise
TV:
Production Company: Radar Studio, Chicago
Director: Sam Macon
Executive Producer: Graham Gangi
Head of Production: Eve Cross
Line Producer: Jonah Mueller
Director of Photography: Travis Auclair
Editor: Mark P. Smith
Music: Foreign Fields
SOCIAL MEDIA: English
Matchstick, Toronto
Co-Founder: Patrick Thoburn
Sr. Account Manager: Stephanie Mindorff
Account Coordinator: Lindsay Britton
Designer: Jan Mazereeuw
French Adaptation / In-Store Promotion Material / Trade Show Material
Braque, Montreal
President and CEO: Jean-Marc Demers
Director, Account Services: Marie-Josée Bourque
Account Manager: Caroline Graf
Account Coordinator: Laure Guilbert
Production Manager: France Handfield
Art Director: Étienne Thibert
Art Director: Jean-Marie Bédard
Copywriter: Sylvain Thomin
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