Clients

Client: Welch Foods
Product: Welch's® 100% Grape Juice

Problem
Welch's® catered its 100% Grape Juice to young children and their mothers for its first 140 years, before recently taking on the challenge of breaking away from its incumbent image and promoting the Welch's® brand to the exploding health conscious market.  Shifting its campaign to target Generation X moms and promote the nutritional benefits of Welch's® 100% Grape Juice - namely its high antioxidant content, which is twice that of orange juice - Welch's® was looking for an innovative way to market its new image. First Flavor's Peel ‘n Taste® marketing system, along with its strategic relationship with Time Inc., the largest publisher in the world, presented Welch's® with a cutting edge advertising opportunity to effectively target its audience and make a lasting impact.

Solution
In the February 18, 2008 edition of PEOPLE magazine, Welch's® placed a 2-page insert with a grape juice flavored Peel ‘n Taste® taste strip affixed to the front of the advertisement. Readers were urged to "Remove and Lick" the taste strip and learn about the health benefits of Welch's® 100% Grape Juice.

Results 
The results from a study conducted by the Starch Communications Division of GfK Custom Research North America, which was commissioned by PEOPLE magazine and First Flavor, were astounding and indicated high efficacy and ROI for taste marketing in magazines. The advertisement proved to have break-through power and top-of-mind brand awareness; it had the highest brand recall of all ads in the issue.

With over 1.5 million PEOPLE magazine subscribers tasting Welch's® Peel ‘n Taste® flavor strips, 59% were more likely to purchase Welch's® 100% Grape Juice.  On top of that, 62% of consumers reported that the ad prompted them to take some form of action, from spreading the word to actually heading out to their local supermarket and buying the product.

The ad generated viral buzz and was mentioned in hundreds of articles including the Wall Street Journal and blogs across the Internet, only further boosting the exposure and visibility of Welch's® brand. Christopher Heye, Welch's® Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, noted that the Peel ‘n Taste® flavor strips were undoubtedly a significant contributor to Welch's® recent upward trend in grape juice sales, which had previously been flat for several years.