It was an integration that, like a tasty hunk of gouda, was too good to resist.

Parmalat launched its Black Diamond Funcheez products to kids last year, targeting three- to six-year-olds with its dinosaur-, planet- and fish-shaped cheese snacks. The packaging featured ‘fun facts’ about each shape, and the USP focused on its nutritional value. So when Kids Can Press approached the brand several months ago with a product integration deal, the two companies soon hatched the idea of including miniature versions of its books with the product.

With a common target demographic and the ability to easily tailor the books to the Funcheez shapes, including the branded mini-books in-pack was an idea all parties were immediately excited about, Kala Patel, director, marketing, cheese and tablespreads, Parmalat Canada, tells MiC.

‘It was just a great strategic fit, and something that hadn’t been done in the market,’ she explains. ‘We were all really excited about how it promotes healthy eating, reading and education. At that age, kids absorb the most, so it’s important to promote those things in a fun way.’

The product partnership will be promoted with 15-second ‘billboard’ ads on Corus’s Treehouse channel for six weeks, with media and creative handled in-house at Corus. Each 10-page book – titled Dinos, Moons & Planets and Fish – features Funcheez branding on the cover. A total of 700,000 mini-books are going in-pack.

Readers are directed to KidsCanPress.com, where they can purchase the full-size version of the book they received. (Books for the integration were selected from Kids Can Press’ existing library.)

The books-and-cheese combo will be a limited-time offer, on shelves until March 31.