2025 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

KPB is famous and adored among all peanut butter fans, but it wasn’t exempt from Canada’s grocery inflation challenges. Prices climbed for the whole peanut butter category, and KPB became one of the most expensive peanut butter choices for shoppers. Eventually, even the most committed KPB fans were sacrificing their favorite spread and switching to cheaper, inferior peanut butter options. As a result, the brand began losing share to control label.

The goal was to restore the loyalty of their core peanut-butter-lover audience by reminding them that nothing compares to KPB. The agency knew that if they could get one jar back in their cupboard, they’d be reminded of the taste and texture they’d been missing, and KPB would once again become their go-to.

They found that 85% of Canadian households keep peanut butter on-hand. It’s a reliable, beloved pantry staple that they never want to be caught without. But there’s a flip side to this reliability: the nightmare of opening a jar, only to find it empty.

The strategy was to subvert this all too familiar moment of peanut butter panic, and turn it into an opportunity to immediately drive purchase. Instead of waiting for them to go in-store to shop and risk competing with cheaper options, they kept them loyal to KPB, by letting them scan their empty jar and instantly get a new one.

The agency created an AI-trained mobile tool that made the patterns left in any empty jar of peanut butter scannable, like a QR code, and delivered new jars to consumers in minutes.

They launched this first-of-its-kind technology into the world using OLV, OOH, and social. Each element showed the familiar moment of staring down an empty peanut butter jar, triggering the emotional response of running out.

The video explained to fans how they could now turn this dreaded experience into a new full jar, by scanning an empty one. Supporting social content on Meta and TikTok drove fans to the mobile tool. Portraying an empty jar, OOH itself became scannable, allowing consumers to immediately engage with the campaign and get a new jar delivered.

People went nuts for the campaign. Their redemption partner Skip the Dishes saw a 120% increase in KPB sales for the duration of the campaign and sustained a 40% increase even after it was over.

The campaign surpassed engagement benchmarks by 260% on Instagram and 654% on TikTok. The campaign garnered coverage from outlets like LBB, The Message, and the Globe and Mail.

By completely evolving the peanut butter purchase journey, the agency was able to drive significant commercial success for the brand. QJarCodes led to a market share increase of 1.4 points whereas control labels lost 1.9 points. By getting KPB into the hands of fans and reminding them that nothing compares, the agency once again secured the brand’s spot in countless cupboards.