2021 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

OBJECTIVES
For years, Hellmann’s has been championing the Real Food Movement with the belief that “real food is too precious to waste.” In 2020, Hellmann’s objective was to get young people, who often overlook food waste, to engage in this issue and take action to create change.

INSIGHTS
In 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons emerged as one of the hottest games. Every week, players buy and sell turnips in return for bells, the in-game currency. But if players don’t sell their turnips within the week, they spoil. Animal Crossing had a food waste problem. Spoiled turnips are a big pain point for the brand’s audience and so Ogilvy used this insight as an opportunity to educate young people about food waste.

To remind the target audience that food is too good to be wasted – even virtual food – the agency created Hellmann’s Island, the first-ever branded 5-Star Animal Crossing Island. For every spoiled turnip that players dropped off, Hellmann’s donated a real meal to a food bank, turning virtual food waste into real food for those in need.

EXECUTION
Previous Animal Crossing campaigns had given away free merch and custom prints, but Hellmann’s was the first to create a fully branded Animal Crossing island. Additionally, what made this idea unique was that it didn’t just recreate something within the game – it took an aspect central to gameplay and used it as a metaphor to spread awareness and education around the brand’s purpose.

Hellmann’s Island was also the first purpose-driven island on Animal Crossing. Not only was it able to show players that even spoiled turnips had value, but also encourage behaviour change by showing them that even the smallest actions from individuals can have the biggest impact when it comes to food waste. Hellmann’s Island was also the first Animal Crossing campaign that turned virtual food waste into real meals for those in need.

RESULTS
Hellmann’s Island received 66.1M total impressions, 54.8M total reach and 6.8M total engagements and an engagement rate of 46.7%. It received over 5,000 direct messages requesting a tour on Twitter, with 1,100 of those arriving within the first hour. Over 15,000 people specifically mentioned Hellmann’s account and hashtag, sharing their gameplay. The campaign also ended up on Reddit’s front page and Twitter’s #BestofTweets2020. The campaign was so successful that the team brought it back twice – for Halloween and Christmas.

Eighty-four percent of the target said the Hellmann’s Island experience motivated them to reduce food waste in their own homes, showing a real change in behaviour. Most importantly, between Second Harvest and FareShare Food Bank, the brand donated a total of 100,000 real meals for those in need.

Credits

Client: Unilever
VP Marketing: Christina Bauer-Plank
Foods Marketing Director: Gina Kiroff
Sr. Brand Manager: Kristen Denega
Global Brand Manager: Amanda Gandolpho
Brand Manager: Ben Graham
Agency: Ogilvy Canada
Chief Creative Officer: Brian Murray
Copywriter: Ian Dunlop
Art Director: Philippe O'Rourke
Designer: Clayton Whelan
Animal Crossing Island Designer: Kim Sison
Chief Strategy Officer: Tom Kenny
Sr Strategist: Tanvi Swar
Worldwide Managing Director: Stéphane Orhan
Worldwide Managing Director: Aviva Groll
Account Director: Beth Blatch
Account Executive: Kemal Sehoglu
Account Coordinator: Rebecca Tummers
Head of In-House Video Production: Eric Thompson
Animal Crossing Consultant: Helen Androlia
PR and Influencer Agency: Edelman Canada