As far as Kraft Comida is concerned, futbol and fruity Jello desserts go hand-in-hand. When Kraft Comida looked ahead to this year's World Cup, the Hispanic market-aimed group spotted an opportunity to score with moms they expected to whip up nibbles to munch during the games.
Kraft has taken a strategic approach to its World Cup-themed effort, deemed Flavors of the Championship, or Sabores del Campeonato, looking to data reflecting social commentary and search trends to inform recipes they suggest in emails, Facebook posts and on YouTube.
Kraft's social media monitoring hub, dubbed "Looking Glass" is a primary source of information for the program, though the company also includes data from third-party research and data on targeted markets.
Comida Kraft's magazine and email program has around half a million subscribers. Operated in conjunction with agency partner Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, it is home to around 3,000 recipes. For the World Cup initiative, Kraft pared the pool down to around 70 party-ready recipes.
The group plans content month-by-month, however, said Tania Cameron, associate director of CRM at Kraft, "We really allow for real-time adaptation of consumer insights."
Before Argentina won against Switzerland and Belgium earlier this month, the Comida Kraft team suggested on Facebook that followers "Bring Argentine flavor to the party with these empanadas ;)" The posts are in Spanish along with an English translation and link to the full recipe.
Kraft switched up content plans after noticing that, "empanadas were a meal that was trending," said Ms. Cameron. "We then changed our Facebook calendar, and we had an empanada with Argentinian flavor."
What is Argentinian flavor you may ask? In Kraft land, additions to ground beef including Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing, Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Smoked Ham, onion, red peppers, cumin, Spanish olives and Kraft shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese do the trick.
A July 4 when Brazil played Colombia, a post pitted recipes inspired by the country's cuisines, asking followers to pick the winner. Brazil's lime-flavored cake layered with a Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Cool Whip concoction was up against a dessert featuring Strawberry, Berry Blue and Lemon Jello made creamy with the addition of evaporated milk. Brazil won the game, 2-1.
Flan, a custardy dessert that's traditionally baked, is a top 10 searched term on the Kraft Comida site, and spurs double the average click-through rate when included in emails, according to Ms. Cameron. So, a cream cheese-based flan recipe that does not require baking is featured in the World Cup recipe collection.
"We included this recipe in our Soccer program for the summer knowing that it will resonate with our audience given past performance and also because we know that more than half of them live in very warm weather states and this recipe allows them to have the flan that they are looking for without using the oven," said Ms. Cameron.
In addition to timely social media and search data, Kraft Comida considered historical click through rates and views on its recipes and other content. The firm's internal Hispanic Pantry study also helped Kraft determine what food products U.S. Latinas have in their homes.
"We collect that data and we understand the historical engagement in any piece of content," said Ms. Cameron.
