CHALLENGE

For over 70 years, King’s Hawaiian has delivered irresistibly delicious Hawaiian bread to families across the country. Americans hold King’s in high regard as a holiday favorite, but the rest of the year consideration, purchase frequency, and sales pale in comparison.

We needed to win beyond the holidays and create more reasons to be included on people’s shopping lists, in their carts, and on their tables. We needed to bring people together for something as exciting as the holidays.

CONTEXT

Over one-third of Americans say King’s Hawaiian is their dinner roll of choice at Thanksgiving. Once you get past the holidays, however, brand consideration drops by half.

75% of Americans are aware of King’s Hawaiian bread, but of the 66 shopping trips consumers make every year to buy bread, King’s Hawaiian is included in less than 5 of them. 

It’s not that people weren't aware of King’s Hawiian, they just weren’t buying it outside of special occasions. 

Part of our problem was that King’s Hawaiian isn’t always easy to find. Hidden in the deli and bakery section rather than the bread aisle, we learned that 22% of consumers found King’s Hawaiian difficult to locate in stores. With many other low-cost and easier to find substitutes, we needed a compelling reason for people to seek out King’s Hawaiian and include their bread in more food-based occasions.

AUDIENCE

To meet our goals of increasing consideration and purchase frequency, we needed to win with the Moment Makers.

These meal planners are between 25-54, skew female, and make up 30% of total bread consumers.

Moment Makers know better than anyone that the way to one’s heart is through their stomach, and that’s why they use food to bring joy to those around them, to show love to the ones they love, and to make everyday moments even more meaningful. They’re the rally leader, the party planner, and they look forward to any opportunity to roll up their sleeves. It doesn’t have to be fancy, expensive, or made entirely from scratch, but it’s always thoughtful and it always tastes good.

INSIGHT

The number one reason people buy King’s Hawaiian bread outside the holidays is for making sliders.

Our research revealed that 63% of our audience was already making sliders with King’s Hawaiian bread, and a whopping 40% of our product’s use occasions were for making sliders.

What's more, when King’s Hawaiian is part of a meal, it’s for meals and moments worth sharing.

Moment Makers almost unanimously agreed (91% in fact) that King’s Hawaiian's number one benefit is that it’s perfect for a group, and 67% said they love our rolls because they're perfect for sharing.

STRATEGY

TRANSFORM SLIDER-MAKING INTO AN EVERYDAY OCCASION.

We realized if we could capitalize on sider-based meals, it would leverage our most popular product (dinner rolls), celebrate and foster togetherness occasions, and utilize a type of food that our audience already likes.

It turns out, we didn’t need to change their attitudes or behaviors, we needed to celebrate it and make it momentous.