By Justin Crann

The Egg Farmers of Canada is seizing an opportunity during a time of increased egg consumption to get people thinking about the staple food item in new ways, including a new approach to who it targets and how it targets them.

The organization worked with AOR Cossette on both creative and media for its renewed “It’s Not Weird” campaign, launching today, to promote eggs as an option at other meal times. Sarah Caron, director of marketing and nutrition for the organization, says those times include lunch and dinner, both of which the Egg Farmers have promoted in the past, but also as a snack, which is new ground for the organization.

The Egg Farmers is also updating up how it targets advertising for this campaign, in a bid to further grow consumption among several key demographics, including men, young families, young singles, professional couples and baby boomers.

Prior to its previous campaign, the Egg Farmers hadn’t directed any media toward a male audience. But identifying an opportunity for growth, Caron says it started airing ads airing during live sports, resulting in “a lot of great feedback and chatter on Twitter.”

To build on that targeted approach, it has a partnership with theScore, Canada’s top sports app, that will span the next few months, leaning in to the target’s desire for protein in creative.

“We have a few full-day takeovers, whether it’s during March Madness or during the NHL playoffs, for one day, everyone who logs in is going to see creative eggs ads,” says Caron. “And we’re going to have banners running throughout the time we work with them.”

To reach other groups, particularly ones in charge of household grocery shopping, the Egg Farmers will also be working with digital flyers app Flipp, which allows consumers to create shopping lists and look for deals on the items they’re buying, she says. Through that partnership, users will be offered ideas and recipes that include eggs when they’re looking for related items.

“We’re really trying to think about how we can get in front of more consumers in places they already are,” says Caron.

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The broader campaign is looking to capitalize on growth in egg consumption. Total egg sales rose 9.8% in 2020, with one in five Canadians saying they were eating more eggs than ever, according to Caron. But the Egg Farmers sees an opportunity for further growth considering nearly 70% of consumers are eating those eggs at breakfast.

“In Canada, eggs are synonymous with breakfast. We know that they’re the number one item that comes up when people think about that. But because breakfast and eggs are so linked, I think that’s a barrier in peoples’ minds,” says Caron. “When they think of eggs, they think of the frying pan and hashbrowns and all of the things that go with that. But it doesn’t have to be that complicated.”

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