McCormick

A non-recipe recipe for success.

DISCIPLINES

Challenge

McCormick has become all things flavor. They have expanded from their original red cap line of spices via line extensions like Grill Mates and acquisitions like Lawry’s, Frank’s RedHot, French’s, Thai Kitchen and Simply Asia, and more. For generations, McCormick has relied on recipes to create demand for their flavor products. Just as what and how people cook has evolved, where they seek recipes has evolved too, from recipe books to social media. Millennials and millennial-minded consumers don’t want rigid recipes, they want to be inspired to experiment with flavor. They want relatable brands with a sense of humor, engaged in popular culture. And they prefer Instagram and Pinterest to Facebook. It’s the non-recipe recipe for success.

Challenger Brand Solution

Emotional Connection

Cooking and eating are inherently social, rich with opportunities to build an emotional connection between McCormick’s portfolio of brands and consumers. We focused on four key aspects to our social approach.

Act like a person, not a product.

When it comes to social, people are attracted to brands that act, talk and look like they and their friends do. So, to attract our target audience, we acted like our target audience.

Use rich, relevant content.

The greatest engagement comes from rich, relevant content that fans can participate in and share.

Content is king, but context is queen.

Content is king and context is queen, but to put a finer point on it, video content is king and storytelling is queen. Storytelling is important because that is where the emotional connection between consumers and the brand happens.

Have a balanced approach.

No one wants to sit next to someone at a dinner party where that person only talks about themselves…we want to talk about ourselves too. Therefore, a brand needs to reciprocate and ask questions, interact, share valuable info and reward fans so it’s not just a one-sided selling message.