Work

InnovAsian

Chinese frozen food brand, InnovAsian, was languishing with low awareness and living in the long, chilly shadow of category king, PF Chang’s. Fix that, they said.

The insight: Chinese cuisine is America’s favorite ethnic food, eclipsing even Italian. It’s not exotic or foreign, like those other guys portray, it’s just harder for a lot of us in the farther-flung corners of the country to access.

So when it came time to do the media plan, we skipped the big cities to focus on more rural areas where people still watch a lot of TV… on their actual TVs. Imagine that! This allowed us to further focus on one medium and purchase an economical daypart plan. We squeezed the budget even harder with 15-second spots, but gave them a unique twist with a memorable bookend strategy.

We then created a series of fast, fun spots spots designed to do one simple thing: teach people our name. Then we’d run one spot at the beginning of a commercial pod. Then there would be interminable commercials from other so-called brands. Then we’d return with another spot at the close of the pod.

The response, as they say in any case study worth its sodium, was immediate. Unaided awareness numbers jumped by 80% and sales were up 8% after just the first week and 15% after only one month. Walmart was so pleased with the results, they “rewarded” InnovAsian by raising the price on every single SKU. But it hasn’t changed the brand’s momentum at all. Sales continue to soar.