Thanksgiving is a crucial time of year for sales for many food brands such as Ocean Spray. 

The cranberry cooperative noticed the lack of cranberry jelly at Thanksgiving dinners across the country as millennials began taking over holiday hosting duties. In fact, 55% of millennials hadn’t grown up with cranberry jelly on their Thanksgiving tables, and 40% of them didn't consider it an important part of the holiday.

Ocean Spray wanted its 2022 holiday campaign to attract millennials in a fun and memorable way, using the very product that’s proven to be a staple for prior generations—Ocean Spray’s canned cranberry jelly.

The company and agency Orchard, formerly Lightning Orchard, developed “Power Your Holidays” around the peculiarities of canned cranberry jelly by bringing it to the forefront of the integrated campaign. The effort came in the form of a partnership with TikTok influencer Jojo Siwa, a TV spot, an original dance track with an accompanying lyric video and a 10-hour-long preroll video of a cranberry yule log. And it was well-received. 

“Power Your Holidays” generated more than 4 billion PR impressions and more than 236,000 engagements on social channels, according to Ocean Spray. Following the launch of the campaign, sales of cranberry jelly surged 27%.

Ocean Spray’s commercial also made No. 11 on Ad Age’s 30 Best Ads of 2022 list. And that’s something to give thanks for.