Hellmann’s is tapping into the trend of searching for recipes on social media to position its vegan mayonnaise as a viable substitute for its traditional mayo.
As part of its latest campaign, the brand has partnered with chef Matthew Ravenscroft to demonstrate (in an incognito taste test) that its vegan mayo offers the same taste and texture as regular mayo.
In a series of social videos, Ravenscroft challenges his non-vegan food industry friends – chef Dwight Smith, food influencer Brandon Petrasso and culinary producer Michelle Rabin – to prepare dishes using what they believe to be normal Hellmann’s mayo. The videos conclude with Ravenscroft revealing that they’ve actually been using the plant-based version all along, leaving the culinary experts surprised by the taste.
Initiative was behind paid media and UStudio handled organic social media, while Edelman led creative and PR.
Lara Wazz, associate brand manager at Hellmann’s Canada, tells MiC that with many Canadians turning to social media for recipe and trend inspiration, the brand decided to focus on Hellmann’s Instagram channel and tap into the influencers that users turn to for ideas, including a mix of vegan and non-vegan recipe creators.
“Placing an emphasis on these influencer and digital channels helped us to connect with our target audience to share the news about our updated label, while demonstrating to them how plant based mayo is the perfect way to add a little more flex to their diets,” she says.
Aside from the partnership with chefs, the brand has updated the label of its former vegan mayo to plant-based mayo to make the product more inclusive and appeal to a broader range of plant-curious Canadians, including vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians.
While Hellmann’s typically targets its marketing efforts to vegans and plant-based Canadians, Wazz says the label change and campaign marks a new shift in direction for the brand, which seeks to reach those who are curious about plant-based options, but are skeptical about compromising on taste and texture.
According to her, consumer trends in recent years have demonstrated that an increasing number of Canadians are committing to plant-based diets. However, one persisting barrier is the perceived difference in quality and flavour between vegan and non-vegan mayo. “While we’re proud to continue offering Canadians the same great taste and real simple ingredients Canadians know and love from our vegan mayo, our updated label reflects our efforts to continuously evolve our brand positioning to meet Canadians where they’re at,” Wazz says.
She adds that the new campaign builds on the success of Hellmann’s previous “Plantified” and “The Vegans” campaigns, which have created awareness about their vegan mayo.
