Hot Dog on a Rollout

Brandweek, Jan 17, 2000 by Gerry Khermouch

Program: Hebrew National brand development

Marketer: ConAgra's National Foods division, Bronx, N.Y.

Agencies: Grey Advtsg, N.Y. (ads); TLP, Wilton, Conn. (promos); Bratskeir, N.Y. (pr/events)

Key players: Natl Foods: Steve Silk, pres; Leigh Platte, mktg dir; Marty Silver, evp; Grey: Milt Weinstock, evp; Ken Barre and Sheralyn Silverstein, creative dirs; TLP: Margaret Lewis, acct dir; Bratskeir: Rob Bratskeir, svp; Ken Meeker, sr acct exec

Despite the brand name, Hebrew National deli products for decades have been anything but national, consigned mainly to East and West Coast metros with big Jewish populations. Under ConAgra, which acquired National Foods seven years ago, that has dramatically changed, and the marketing challenge has been to grow the brand into a familiar grocery presence even in markets with little Jewish culture or awareness, without abandoning ethnic roots that confer authenticity and heritage. The rollout strategy: to equate the brand's kosherness with premium qualities more relevant to mainstream consumers, such as no artificial flavors or byproducts, while softening up an image that might otherwise come across as austere, alien or intimidating.

Fortunately, among the qualities associated with Jewish culture has been an in your-face comedic shtick that--as Seinfeld proved--is universally understood. With its new attitude-infused approach, National has gotten the $100 million-plus brand (two-thirds of that is still hot dogs) on a growth tear that is the envy of ConAgra.

Certainly, the potential has been ripe for a premium hot dog player. "Even in non-Jewish-heavy markets, we could find premium [brands] without a lot of competition," said Steve Silk, president of ConAgra Refrigerated Products.

Starting three years ago, ConAgra began boosting distribution in a few markets annually and saw its investments in media garner sales spikes as high has 86% in Denver, said marketing director Leigh Platte. Growth averaged 40% in markets that often had less than a 3% Jewish population, Silk said.

By the time availability hit 53% ACV, ConAgra didn't need much convincing to approve a rollout, which commenced last May. "They never blinked," Silk said. By then, Hebrew National had won a reputation as the company's highest-margin, yet fastest-growing, refrigerated-food unit, momentum Silk is now trying to transfer to refrigerated SKUs under the Healthy Choice, Swift and other ConAgra brands, from a corporate perch in Downers Grove, Ill. "We clearly had programs that worked," he said of the approvals.

Success has not come cheap. After investing heavily in operations and packaging, ConAgra's commitment to $8 million in radio and TV during a three-month summer window in 1999 grabbed a 25% share of category voice for a brand that holds just 2% nationally Silk said. (In core markets it's usually lodged behind Ballpark and ahead of Oscar Meyer.)

Creatively Silk and agency Grey N.Y. (which then employed Platte, hired by the client last March), felt they could refresh HN's decades-old slogan, "We answer to a higher authority," with a disarmingly humorous approach.

"Three years ago, we decided to make God more approachable and friendly," said Platte. Using comedian Robert Klein as the voice of God helped; even those who didn't recognize him would succumb to the George Burns-style warmth and range he offered in portrayals that are kept from becoming cloying by the gently sarcastic underlying tone.

The latest TV spot is characteristic. A chubby guy named Larry in a Hawaiian shirt is hard-sold a HN hot dog off a beach cart manned by God (never seen in the spots). "It's divine," Larry allows of the taste. "Thank you," Klein's voice responds. "Now take this one over to your wife." Larry takes a gander at the blonde in a bikini who's just ambled over to a nearby beach chair and shrugs, "I wish!" "Trust me on this, Larry," Klein assures him.

"It's tasteful, but shows a more approachable God there to positively interact in people's lives," said Silk. A sequel is entering production now

Also important are venue-specific ads, particularly in sports arenas that serve as a key sampling platform, from the Meadowlands near New York and Wrigley Field in Chicago to new ballparks in Denver, Baltimore and Cleveland. "T.D." on a football grid is taken to stand for "Top Dog," while in basketball venues HN is "the perfect pick for any roll." An ad spotted on a National Foods corridor wall offers, "Here's a Frank that Kathie Lee can really trust"; HN execs swear that one never ran.

To build grass roots awareness, HN has blended events, promos, cause marketing and retailer-specific tie-ins. To crack hot dog mecca Chicago, for example, HN sold hot dogs during the holiday lighting ceremonies on the Magnificent Mile, donating the proceeds to a local food bank. This spring, Hebrew National teams with local retailer Jewel and radio station WGN to sponsor a "Scoring for Kids" event at Wrigley Field.

The brand is ecumenical in the range of charities it supports, from synagogue education programs to churches, battered women shelters and juvenile diabetes-treatment programs, said evp Marty Silver. That's also helped elevate the slogan to an ethical imperative for HN, Silk said. "'Higher authority' once was seen just as a tagline. Now management has adopted it as a credo for how the company should operate."