Weight. We all face the time in our life where we think we aren't skinny enough or that we don't have enough muscle, or that our body shape is too ugly.
I have seen countless advertisements on weight supplements and meal replacements that go the traditional route - showing the product improving peoples lives. However, Lean Cuisine decided to take an alternative route with their #WeighThis campaign. They shut down advertising for 18 months as they approached a new way to advertise their brand to appeal more to their target customer.
Target: People who seek to lead a healthier lifestyle. Specifically, Lean Cuisine is targeting real women who seek to lead a fulfilling life through their strengths and not by those who define it by their weight.
Insight: The recent increase in popularity for healthy food and the movement away from frozen diet foods have shifted Lean Cuisine's branding. People are so weight obsessed that they tend to forget the things that matter in their life - the things that they are proud about.
Brand Idea/Positioning: Your personal weight doesn't matter but your personal accomplishments do. "If you're going to weigh something, weigh something that matters".
Objective: To position their brand in a new light. Instead of Lean Cuisine being focused on weight watching, they want their customers to focus on their aspirations and accomplishments rather than their weight. The ad ends with, "The new Lean Cuisine, here to feed what really matters to you".
Strengths: This campaign does a great job of using real women and their stories to strike an emotional response. I can personally attest to being obsessed with how much I weigh compared to other people. While Lean Cuisine may have been focused on diet foods before, they certainly shifted their brand to empower people to be focused on their strengths while leading a healthy life. '
Weaknesses: I am wondering if Lean Cuisine is trying to only target women due to the fact that more women are likely to obsess over their weight. If so, that ad does a great job of advertising it to real women. However, what about men? In this Forbes article, it states that the brand reached men and women alike on the emotional level where one male viewer said, "Wow, incredibly powerful!" Would the ad campaign be more successful if "real men" shared their greatest accomplishments alongside women? Or did this campaign help to boost customer awareness and sales efficiently?
Overall, Lean Cuisine is making big strides to becoming a better company. They have grouped their entrees into four categories: Marketplace, Craveables, Comfort, and Favorites in order to encourage a more specialized meal for every type of person. Can Lean Cuisine make a difference in the frozen food aisle section? Or will they remain to be known as just another diet food company? Take a look at their ad below to see if #WeighThis was a successful move: