Sweet'N Low Broadens Appeal

Brookyln, N.Y. -- While older adult consumers can easily identify pink packets of sweetener as Sweet'N Low, younger folks (though familiar with the venerable brand) are less likely to connect with it, according to industry research. Their seeming lack of interest prompted Cumberland Packaging Corp., Sweet'N Low's parent company, to create a reintroduction campaign featuring familiar aspects of the brand presented in a fun, vibrant way.Cumberland broke with its longtime creative agency "out of a desire to get new and fresh creative and a new direction," says CEO Steven Eisenstadt. "We wanted to appeal to a broader consumer base, a little bit younger, without alienating our existing base" of primarily women over 45 years old.Previous campaigns featuring media personality Regis Philbin, who has qualified for a senior discount for more than two decades, and the Pink Panther cartoon character perhaps failed to engage this younger audience. "Younger consumers weren't necessarily giving us a try," Eisenstadt admits. "We needed to somehow get in their field of vision." Indeed, the Sweet'N Low brand exploded into view in August with a campaign built around cheery illustrations, each featuring a single-serve packet of the saccharine sweetener surrounded by retro graphics and a sea of pink. The campaign, featuring print, outdoor, digital and in-store elements, was a long time in the making. Cumberland approached no fewer than 44 agencies with experience working with brands "that needed a little dusting off," as Eisenstadt puts it.The search ultimately led to Mother New York. Taking a "simple, elegant, happy approach," the agency rose to the challenge of engaging a younger audience without alienating longtime fans of Sweet'N Low, which has been around since 1957, Eisenstadt says. The print work includes 1960s and 1970s "flower power" and psychedelic designs. All are the visual equivalent of cotton candy, but some are decidedly sweeter than others, with hearts, birds and ladybugs surrounding or interacting with the familiar Sweet'N Low packet. Across the campaign, the color pink predominates. The ads have no slogans or text besides "zero-calorie sweetener," which is a departure from the category norm of spelling out product benefits.The ads are intended to appeal to consumers' emotions, not engage them rationally, Eisenstadt says. "We happen to be the sweetest. We happen to have the lowest price. We happen to have the longest history. But we did not want to bombard people with messages," he says. "There's a lot of noise out there, and this was a quiet way to stand out and get attention."Mother did qualitative research in the form of "man-on-the-street" interviews to get a handle on public perception of the Sweet'N Low brand, which helped shape the campaign. "We also included a healthy dose of gut instinct," says creative director Bobby Hershfield. "This brand is iconic and had all the elements in place -- great product, great packaging, great benefit. So we wanted the work to reflect all these qualities and reflect the sweetness that already exists in the brand and the product itself," he says.Despite all the pink, "I think the artwork will resonate across genders," Eisenstadt says. "I would have hung something like this on my dorm room wall in college."A shelf talker featuring the same creative is in more than 9,000 stores through Nov. 7, with a new version hitting stores in early 2011. Still to come are promotional events that "hopefully will bring the images to life and be an interactive art type of thing," he adds.The campaign is also a response to increased competition among sweeteners, as newly developed sugar substitutes continue to join an already crowded category. Yet even as the competition steps up, Cumberland expects Sweet'N Low to do well."I think art can be advertising and advertising can be art," Eisenstadt says, "and while we've been hearing 'Where's the message?' [in response to this campaign], because of people's response to art we're hoping we'll make a deeper connection that leads to an increase in sales."

Sweet'N Low Broadens Appeal

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