The May 2-4 long weekend is one of Canada’s best party weekends when people get together to kick back and drink beers. Unsurprisingly, cooking is the last thing on people’s minds which makes the microwaveable KD Cup the perfect snack to keep the party going. So how could KD score a VIP invite to the May 2-4? By tapping into beer culture. So, we created the KD 2-4, a 24-pack of KD Cups packaged like a case of beer and then we made them exclusively available at Beer Store locations across Ontario. Mimicking beer packaging and borrowing visual cues from beer ads, the KD 2-4 not only positioned Kraft Dinner as the go-to drunk snack for long weekend getaways it also reminded Canadians that KD has its finger on the Canadian cultural pulse.
The campaign needed to feel hyper-local, targeting communities across Ontario such as Barrie, Collingwood, and Muskoka. To achieve this, we designed a campaign to speak to Canadians in a culturally relevant way and tapped into the nostalgia of classic beer marketing.
Kraft Dinner is Canada’s favourite mac and cheese. We sell over 120 million boxes a year. It’s so popular that many Canadians consider KD to be the de facto national dish. We’re considered a national icon in Canada and we used that equity for the KD 2-4 campaign.
To bring the KD 2-4 to life, we anchored our campaign around one insight: May 2-4 parties start with a stop at The Beer Store. We partnered with The Beer Store to launch the first-ever 24-pack of KD Cups. The KD 2-4 was distributed at select Beer Store locations strategically placed across Ontario- in Toronto and in cottage country to ensure relevance and accessibility.
Our creative approach borrowed from the visual language of nostalgic beer ads. The packaging mimicked beer cases, while campaign visuals included picturesque outdoor settings, clinking glasses, and playful taglines that celebrated Canadian traditions with a cheeky KD twist.
The campaign relied heavily on hyper-local marketing to reach Ontarians on the move. In-store signage was prominently featured at participating Beer Store locations, including their famous wall of beer brands.
Social media played a critical role in amplifying the campaign. Both KD and The Beer Store used their channels to announce the partnership, tease the KD 2-4 offering and drove traffic to participating locations.
The KD 2-4 was a runaway success, selling out at select Beer Store locations in just three hours. The campaign sparked a wave of online engagement, generating over 29 million earned impressions in a province of 16 million, with 100% positive sentiment. The creative design of the KD 2-4 not only strengthened KD’s emotional connection to May 2-4 traditions but also delivered remarkable business results.
Earned media efforts resulted in coverage across national, lifestyle, broadcast, and trade verticals. And these 130 placements blew way past our campaign goal of 8!
The success of the KD 2-4 campaign proved the power of leveraging local traditions and creative partnerships, creating a memorable moment that resonated deeply with consumers.
