2025 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

The escalating prices of groceries have driven young shoppers to seek out cheaper alternatives for everything, including cream cheese. In their minds, there's no discernible difference between Philly and its competitors. This means that even though Philly is synonymous with cream cheese, the brand is losing relevance with young shoppers.

This is happening despite the fact that Philly is the iconic cream cheese brand beloved in America (and beyond!) The agency needed to reignite the love for Philly among young shoppers by doing something unexpected and bold. They needed to challenge the status quo – by challenging the way that people
interact with cream cheese.

To their Millennial target, bagels are elevated to a near religious status where they become the center of heated debates. From the best city for bagels, to what constitutes a proper bagel, to the best bagel shops, every single thing about bagels is analyzed and argued over.

The one thing that all bagel enthusiasts can agree upon? The right amount of Philly is more Philly.

Bagels have had holes for over 700 years, but for Philly, the hole is a design flaw that means less room for cream cheese. So we did the unthinkable – they messed with a centuries old process to rethink the bagel itself.

Introducing “Philly Bagel Wholes” – bagels with no holes so there’s more room for Philly, solving an age-old problem.

In creating this first of its kind, controversial bagel, Philly chose 5 cities that hosted the bulk of conversations around bagels. They teamed up with iconic bagel shops: Utopia in New York City, St. Viateur in Montreal, Starship in Dallas, Rubinstein’s in Seattle, and Steingold’s in Chicago.

The brand collaborated with each shop’s head baker to rethink a centuries old process. These Bagel Wholes were then made available in-store and online via Goldbelly between January 30th & February 12th 2024.

First, they posted a controversial poll on Reddit and Meta, asking people if bagels would be better without holes.

Then, they started to tease the campaign with PR efforts, with articles and offering first taste to key influencers in key markets. The goal was to withhold the product while kick starting conversations to drive hype around Bagel Wholes.

Once the hype was built and people were pleading with the brand to try the Bagel Wholes, they released the Bagel Wholes to the masses in-store and on Gold Belly.

An OLV explained why the brand removed the hole and OOH and social drove people in-store. The bagel shops’ regulars were confronted with a controversial bagel they couldn’t resist not trying.

Sales of Philly among their target increased by 24.5% (5x their objective), and positive brand sentiment increased by 21% (6% over objectives), thus reasserting Philly’s relevance to young shoppers.

Montreal’s St. Viateur sold over 26,000 no-hole bagels alone, with a 20% increase of in-store sales and a 15% increase in year-over-year online sales. Total sales across all partners surpassed 100,000 bagels, and Philly earned 9 days of continuous coverage and more than 308M impressions!

Credits

CCO: Aaron Starkman, Mike Dubrick
CSO: Sean McDonald
ECD: Xavier Blais
Head of Strategy: Julian Morgan
Strategist: Matt Michels, Pirooz Malektojar
Associate Creative Director: Marko Pandza, Jason Kerr
Art Director: Jason Kerr
Writer: Marko Pandza, Brigitte Pinsonneault
Director of Integrated Content: Todd Harrison
Associate Director of Digital Production: Kyle Hicks
Digital Designer: Dustin Gamble
Director of Print Production: AJ Merrick
Senior Integrated Producer: Narine Artinian
Studio Artist: Kostas Loukopoulos
Senior Studio Artist: Carl DeVouge
Studio Manager: Todd Bennett
Director of Broadcast Production: Shelby Spigelman
Broadcast Producer: Alex Butt
Group Business Lead: Adam Ball
Group Account Director: Rob Dix
Account Director: Ilhaam Jiwaji, Joanna Oszczak, Catherine Mainville
Account Supervisor: Jamie Flatow, Monica Ha
Account Manager: Sharlyn Barahona
Editorial: Saints Editorial
Editor: Giuseppe Piccolo
Executive Producer (Editorial): Emily McKay
Motion Graphics / VFX: Gimmick Studios
Creative Director (VFX): Benoit Fortier
Producer (VFX): Marilou Roberge, Gabrielle Dorre
Audio: OSO Audio
Creative Directors (Audio): Harry Knazan, Daenen Bramberger
Executive Producer (Audio): Hannah Graham
Senior Producer (Audio): Lauren Dobbie
Engineer: Omid Geadizadeh
PR: Zeno Group
Media: Starcom, Carat

Client: Kaitlin Kocsis, Keenan White, Anne Field