CASE STUDY: SNAUSAGES | TURNING TRADITION ON ITS TAIL

ISSUE:
After several quarters of decline, the Snausages business had started to stabilize behind limited tactical support. In order to maintain profitable share, the main focus for the brand was to keep the brand relevant until the brand is re-launched with new positioning. With the competition having recently launched a national broadcast advertising campaign, continued support of the brand became critical to demonstrating to customers that Del Monte is committed to the Snausages brand.

IDEA:
To keep Snausages top-of-mind with consumers and capture share-of-voice from the compawtition, Coyne PR took the opportunity to leverage the media’s interest in the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska and created the first ever “Snausages Man Sled Race” in Anchorage. For years, the news of the “The Last Great Race” has captured the attention of national media. This year, Snausages capitalized on the news of the day by hosting “The Next Great Race” days before the official start of the Iditarod.

Snausages, a brand known for its fun and playful personality, turned the Iditarod tradition on its “tail” by having humans and dogs switch roles for a good cause. In this race, the dogs barked the shots from the musher’s seat, while the humans pulled the sleds in a race across 75-yards of frozen lake to benefit local pet-related charities. The race was designed to highlight the special furiendship shared between dog and pet parent.

IMPACT:
With a considerably smaller investment than that of a national advertising campaign and only three weeks turnaround, the Snausages Man Sled Race gained significantly increased awareness for the brand and proved to be a howlarious event unlike any other. The coverage of the event was a real treat with 159 stories (and counting), resulting in over 32 million media impressions:

Highlights include:

• A photo of the event became the most e-mailed photo on Yahoo! News the day after the race and remained the number one photo for several days;


• Key top-tier, national broadcast placements include “FOX & Friends,” “Wake Up With Al” on The Weather Channel and “First Take” on ESPN2. Additional broadcast highlights include placements in 5 of the top ten media markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco;


• In addition to “First Take,” ESPN ran the Snausages Race on their highly popular feature the “Not so Top 10” several times the week of the event.