Kind Snacks is trying to inject a lighter touch right into a crowded better-for-you snacking category that tends to deal with functional advantages. A latest ad campaign debuting Monday stars comedians Eric Wareheim and Atsuko Okatsuka as human embodiments of the stomach and brain, respectively. The two organs — often in tension when it comes to grabbing a fast bite — unite in the commercials on the dance floor at a college prom, emphasizing that Kind stands as a good selection health-wise that doesn’t sacrifice taste.
Created with agency Energy BBDO, “All Kinds of Good” is a component of a bigger refresh for Kind that’s meant to bring a clearer sense of direction to a brand that has ceaselessly positioned itself around acts of kindness but more recently began to reassess whether a patchwork of cause-driven efforts aligned with actual business opportunities. The revamped approach goals to connect with two core audiences that were potentially underserved in the past: parents in the Gen X and millennial age range who’re attempting to find dietary snacks for his or her families and Gen Zers who tend to snack heavily and are attracted to values-based products. To engage those groups, Kind is adding some latest media tactics to its playbook and increasing spend by about 40% over 2023.
“We are quite confident in the work we’re doing and quite bullish in its effectiveness, so we’re willing to put the investment behind it,” said Osher Hoberman, a Mars veteran who took on the Kind CMO role in November.
A latest purpose
The maker of fruit-and-nut bars for a very long time centered its marketing on the story of founder Daniel Lubetzky, but that made less sense after Mars fully acquired Kind for a reported $5 billion in 2020, a 12 months that saw the corporate expand its product portfolio. Kind from there pushed harder into purpose-led marketing, with activations around areas as disparate because the LGBTQ community, sustainability and celebrating frontline staff. Like a growing list of corporations, Kind is now re-examining that approach.
“It was just very fragmented in terms of what the brand [stood] for,” said Hoberman. “The messaging itself was far faraway from Kind’s real food proposition.”
Kind will proceed its social work around bringing nutrition to underserved communities with the refresh, according to Hoberman. This is Kind’s first campaign under Hoberman, who previously helped launch Snickers’ signature “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign and helped lead Mars’ initial investment in Kind.
When it comes to the ads themselves, “All Kinds of Good” feels more of a chunk with how other Mars brands have promoted their products, drawing on the colourful flair of verticals like confectionery.
“It goes for this category and it goes for promoting, more broadly speaking: Consumers could use a little bit more humor in how we come to life,” said Josh Gross, chief creative officer at Energy BBDO. “Humor felt like such a pleasant way to stand out in the category and get people to listen.”
Kind in the approaching weeks may have a branded integration on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” that enhances ads appearing throughout the business breaks on this system. Digital out-of-home buys and audio content on Spotify are other latest bets which can be meant to be additive to a mixture of TV, digital video and paid social elements, including partnerships with Meta, TikTok and Snap. Kind can also be doubling down on retail media to attempt to tie its messaging closer to purchasing behavior.
“We’ve all the time been very lively in that space, but bringing a national campaign down to the retail level is something that we’ve never done before,” said Hoberman. “We think it’s going to create a pleasant synchronization across the entire media channels and great cohesion to the story.”
An expansion in performance marketing comes as Kind seeks to carve out its own path in snack bars and improve its rate of sale. Executives see the brand as acting as a glad medium between the indulgent and the overly restrictive. Along with its signature bars, Kind sells offerings like granola and frozen bars.
“This is a category that’s probably still underdeveloped. It’s very much underdeveloped after I compare it to confectionery, where I got here from,” said Hoberman. “For me, an actual measure of success will likely be if we will drive category penetration and brand penetration alongside the category.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated one in every of the products in Kind Snacks’ portfolio. The company previously discontinued chocolate bark.
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