Edelman has been working hand-in-hand with Uncle Ben’s for 10 years, most recently to deliver their ‘Ben’s Beginners’ program—a global initiative to get parents and their children to cook together.

Our previous research uncovered that, despite an increased consumer interest and demand for healthy, prepared-at-home food, families are still largely reliant on convenient foods.

The onset of Covid-19 has, for many, only exacerbated this problem as families now must stay at home and parents are having to adjust to a new reality of juggling life, work, and mealtimes.

In response to the current climate, we identified an important role for Uncle Ben’s to play in supporting parents by providing meal inspiration and teaching future generations to cook while also keeping them entertained in isolation.

STRATEGY AND EXECUTION

Edelman reimagined the planned ‘Ben’s Beginners’ campaign, bringing it forward by 6 months from October to April and adapting the planned content for the current situation. With this agility and vision, Uncle Ben’s were quickly able to help families who were adjusting to the new normal, by supplying them with child-friendly recipes, games and Instagram Live cook-a-longs to keep kids happy, healthy and entertained.

SOCIAL

Through the lens of Ben’s Beginners, we are sharing lots of delicious meal inspiration and child-friendly recipes, with step by step video-content parents and kids can follow.

INFLUENCER

We partnered with a credible ambassador, FoodOppi, to host two Instagram Live cook-a-longs that parents could join with their kids and two IGTV’s showing just how much fun it is cooking together. This is all designed to help parents and their children bond overcooking.

BOOKLET

We redesigned a shopper booklet that we had previously created to coincide with an in-store promotion and made it available online for parents to download. The guide includes recipes, games for kids, kitchen hacks and dinner conversation tips.

OUTCOMES

The campaign launched on the 28th March and in three weeks had generated:

  • A unique reach of 1,224,957
  • 3,312,379 Impressions