This Brand Doesn’t Mind Being in the Soup (Published 2010)

The world was treated to a terrific game when the United States and Canadian hockey teams played each other at the Winter Olympics. But Canadians and Americans can cooperate, too, as demonstrated by a campaign for a venerable brand.

The campaign, from the Nabisco division of Kraft Foods, promotes the ability of Premium saltine crackers to liven up a prosaic bowl of soup. The campaign began last fall in Canada and arrived in this country last month, with some changes.

For instance, the gold medals in the ads had to be replaced with silver ones. (Just kidding, American hockey fans.)

Actually, the major modification was a switch in songs in the television commercial that is the centerpiece of the campaign, replacing a Canadian rock tune with one better known to Americans.

The campaign originated with a Canadian agency that works for Kraft, Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG in Toronto, part of the Euro RSCG Worldwide unit of Havas. It was adapted for the United States by the Euro RSCG office in New York.

The commercial represents the first time that Premium has been advertised on television to American consumers since 1986. In Canada, where Kraft sells its crackers and cookies under the Christie name, Premium Plus, as the brand is called in that country, had returned to TV in February 2008 after a hiatus of almost 20 years, the Canadian trade publication Marketing reported.

Whichever country the cracker is crumbled in, the campaign is indicative of how marketers of consumer packaged goods are paying additional attention to their vintage brands. Those efforts have accelerated since the Great Recession began in late 2007, as consumers started trying to save money by eating out less and at home more.

Many of those consumers are turning to familiar products to stay within their newly narrowed budgets, among them Betty Crocker cake mixes, Campbell’s soups, Del Monte vegetables, Heinz ketchup, Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Hormel chili, Jif peanut butter, Kellogg’s cereals and Swanson frozen dinners.

Kraft Foods is emblematic of the trend, as the company brings out new campaigns for its older products, redesigns their packages and freshens them up with line extensions and new flavors. There have been numerous changes in the agency assignments for those brands, too, as Kraft shuffles creative accounts.

In addition to Premium, Kraft brands that are being readied again for their close-ups include Jell-O, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese, Kraft Singles, Oscar Mayer, Planters snacks and Nabisco products like Oreo, Ritz and Wheat Thins.

And this week, another Nabisco product, Triscuit, will introduce a campaign by Euro RSCG New York that encourages consumers to consider home farming. “When you plant a seed, you grow a movement,” the headline of a print advertisement asserts.

A section of the Triscuit Web site is being devoted to information about home farming and an organization, Urban Farming. There will be grants for sustainability programs through Future Farmers of America.

And four million Triscuit packages will include cards of basil and dill seeds, which can be planted at home for herb gardens.

One reason mainstay brands are faring well in the weak economy is “their very strong connection with consumers built around trust and heritage,” says Scott Christensen, Premium brand manager at the Nabisco division of Kraft Foods in East Hanover, N.J.

“This idea of reliability, a product that’s comforting and nurturing,” is strong during tumultuous times, he adds. “Consumers are returning to products and brands they know and trust.”

In the last couple of years, there has been a “resurgence” of Premium, Mr. Christensen says, which is the market-share leader in the saltine-cracker category, based “on the budget-friendly idea.”

“As the economy as receded, people value our offering more,” he adds, citing a “positive growth trend, in the low to mid single digit” percentages, for the saltine category in general and Premium in particular.

“That’s pretty significant,” Mr. Christensen says, “since saltines is a mature category.”

Indeed. The product dates to the early 1800s, when it was called soda crackers, and Premium -- which has the majority of the saltine market in the United States, according to Mr. Christensen — was introduced in 1876.

Other major saltine brands include Sunshine Krispy, Keebler Zesta and Keebler Export Sodas, all sold by the Kellogg Company. There are also myriad saltines sold under private-label and store-brand names.

Research determined that there was “a prime opportunity,” Mr. Christensen says, “to strengthen the connection with consumers around the idea of Premium saltines and soup.”

“It works on multiple levels,” he explains: “There’s the budget-friendly component. It’s a familiar occasion for consumers. And it’s very comforting.”

“There’s a huge opportunity for Premium,” Mr. Christensen says, given that “U.S. adults enjoy soup over nine billion times a year and Premium is paired less than 5 percent of the time.”

Meantime, in Canada, the Premium Plus brand had been celebrating for a couple of years what happens when soup and crackers combine. First came the 2008 commercial, called “Fireworks,” in which the bringing together of soup and Premium Plus causes joyous explosions as the song “I Just Want to Celebrate” plays on the soundtrack.

Next came the commercial last fall featuring the rock song, a tune from the 1970s, “Raise a Little Hell,” by a Canadian band, Trooper.

That spot begins with a bowl of soup onscreen as a soft ’60s pop song, “Mr. Lonely,” is played at low volume.

A box of Premium Plus appears, and the mood immediately changes. As crackers fall from the box, “Raise a Little Hell” plays and soup splashes everywhere.

The commercial ends with a veritable tidal wave of red soup covering the entire screen as these words appear: “Add some Plus. Premium Plus.”

The Canadian campaign gave executives in the United States who oversee Premium a chance “to contemporize a strong business for Nabisco,” Mr. Christensen says, “one that historically has not received quite as much attention” as other brands.

“We looked across the border to our partners in Canada,” he adds, who have had “great success” with their initiative to revitalize Premium Plus.

Making that cross-cultural effort easier was “the strong similarities between the United States saltine consumer and the Canadian saltine consumer,” Mr. Christiansen says, which meant “we had something we could repurpose.”

Enter the staff of Euro RSCG New York, who discussed an American adaptation with their counterparts at Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG.

The basis for the Canadian campaign is that the pairing of Premium Plus and soup “from a taste standpoint, a texture standpoint, even the act of cracking the cracker, made the soup occasion better,” says Ron Tite, vice president and creative director at Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG.

The second commercial was designed “to accentuate the positive aspects” of when the soup and crackers “come together,” he adds, which was enhanced by the use of “Raise a Little Hell,” described by Mr. Tite as “a good, rocking tune.” Israel Garber, executive creative director at Euro RSCG New York, picks up the story.

“We were asked to take a look at” the Canadian spot, Mr. Garber says, “and we loved it.”

“It was clearly a breakthrough way to use music to raise awareness” of Premium, he adds, which was necessary because in the United States “with all the private-label brands, we’re getting squashed a little bit on choice and value.”

The campaign declares that Premium “is the cracker that rocks out with soup,” Mr. Garber says. “Anything less, and you don’t have a great soup experience.”

That sentiment is expressed in the American version with the theme “Premium love,” which is accentuated with the addition of bright lights to the commercial, he adds, “like you’re at a show.”

“The critical thing was, what would be the song in the United States?” Mr. Garber says. “We went with an ’80s hair band, Scorpions, and ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane.’ ”

“It all came together,” he adds, “building on a great concept.”

The American version begins the same way as the Canadian, with a bowl of soup onscreen as “Mr. Lonely” plays. The box of saltines arrives — with the package of Christie Premium Plus replaced by a package of Nabisco Premium, of course. The box opens and crackers again fall out.

This time, these words appear on screen as “Mr. Lonely” abruptly ends and “Rock You Like a Hurricane” begins: “Give your soup ” ... “ some” ...“Premium love.”

The crackers fall into multiple soup bowls, the lights flash, and huge splashes happen, almost like lava erupting from volcanoes.

Asked what the Canadians think of how the Americans adapted their work, Mr. Tite says, laughing, “We decided to get back in Olympic hockey.”

Actually, “our two offices collaborate all the time,” he adds. “And work that Israel’s team do we pick up all the time.”

The American commercial began running on Feb. 8 in what Mr. Christensen calls “20 key markets” for Premium, among them Louisville, Ky.; Miami; Milwaukee; New York; Phoenix; Seattle and Portland, Ore.; and Tampa, Fla.

The spot then ran for three weeks, including in commercial breaks on local NBC stations in those markets during coverage of the Winter Games.

It took a week off and comes back this week, Mr. Christensen says, running through the end of March, “when soup season starts to wind down.”

There are also posters in stores around the country that sell Premium, he adds, echoing the graphic look of the commercial and offering coupons good for a dollar off the purchase of a box of Premium and a can of soup or chili.

Nabisco is looking at ways of “strengthening the linkage between Premium and soup,” Mr. Christensen says, that might include, say, adding an image from the commercial to Premium packages.

Now if only they could figure out a way to play “Rock You Like a Hurricane” whenever the box is opened. Or even “O Canada.”

•

If you like In Advertising, be sure to read the Advertising column that runs Monday through Friday in the Business Day section of The New York Times print edition and on nytimes.com.