Food Marketing Shifts as Economy Stumbles

by nicole ~ September 30, 2008

As the economy becomes increasingly unstable and many Americans begin cutting out luxuries, food marketers continue to fight for the consumer’s pocketbook.

According to this article in The Wall Street Journal major food manufacturers, like Campbell’s, Kraft and Kellogg, are beginning to heavily promote their more economic product lines for the first time in years.  This comes at a time when consumers are grocery shopping more and are increasing spending on generic brands.

The article says:

“Campbell and cheese giant Kraft are also teaming up to promote meals of soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches. Kraft’s Web site will add recipes for cheap sandwiches and suggest Campbell soups to pair them with.

On Nov. 2, newspapers nationwide will carry coupon inserts pitching Campbell soups and sandwiches made with Kraft Singles cheese as the “wallet-friendly meal your family will love.’”

And when the times are tough, who better to promote your product than a well-known financial advisor?  The article states:

“Also Monday, the milk industry will begin running ads touting milk as a bargain. Financial guru Suze Orman will don the familiar milk mustache in a print ad that reads: ‘Even at today’s prices, a glass of milk only costs about a quarter….’ The ad is a big departure from prior ‘Got Milk’ campaigns that focused on the nutritional value of milk.”

While high-end brands are battling the generics, and consumers are spending more money on groceries and less on restaurant meals, it is interesting to see how restaurants retaliate.

The other night I saw a commercial for Kentucky Fried Chicken challenging viewers to make their entire meal special for less than its $10 price tag.  I can’t find the commercial online yet, but it depicts a family in the grocery store tallying up the prices for the ingredients required for the chicken dinner.  After just a few items the $10 limit is reached and the family gives in and goes to KFC, while the restaurant claims it just doesn’t make sense to make the meal at home.

A while back I blogged about Qdoba’s Stimulus Burrito and special deals restaurants were offering, but for KFC this add takes it to a whole new level  by saying you can’t afford not to eat their food.  It will be interesting to see if other restaurants follow their footsteps in challenging the popular belief that eating at home is cheaper.