Who: Kraft Heinz, with Rethink for creative and strategy; partnering Bagel shops including St-Viateur Bagel in Montreal, along with Utopia Bagels in New York, Steingold’s of Chicago, Starship Bagel Dallas, and Rubinstein Bagels in Seattle; Zeno Group for PR and Carat for paid media.
What: “Philadelphia Bagel Wholes,” a limited-edition innovation to provide consumers with hole-less bagels, so they have more room to spread Philadelphia cream cheese. The playful campaign, a response to a long-held debate about whether bagels should have holes, is in keeping with previous work from the brand, like
What: “Philadelphia Bagel Wholes,” a limited-edition innovation to provide consumers with hole-less bagels, so they have more room to spread Philadelphia cream cheese. The playful campaign, a response to a long-held debate about whether bagels should have holes, is in keeping with previous work from the brand, like
Philly Schmear Socks, which won big at the ADCCs last year.
Where & When: The Philadelphia Bagel Wholes will be available until Feb. 12 at all five partnering bagel shops, as well as online via Stviateurbagel.com in Canada and Goldbelly.com in the U.S., while supplies last. On top of earned media, the campaign is being supported through paid social, OOH, OLV and creator content.
Why: “The campaign was brought to life to showcase how Philadelphia, as the leader in the cream cheese category, is here to provide tangible solutions to real consumer problems and has the desire to drive conversation and engagement around topics of conversation being had already by Philly fans,” Kraft Heinz’s senior brand manager, Keenan White, told The Message. “The issue with bagels is that they have holes. Holes mean less bagel. Less bagel equals less room for Philly. So we thought, what if we closed the hole?”
How: The idea was picked up as soon as it was presented, said Rethink’s ECD Xavier Blais. “The clients immediately started making phone calls to bring more potential partners in.”
The brand launched teaser posts on social media in December, asking people if bagels would be better with no hole, said White. Strong engagement, which suggests the topic is more divisive than unanimous, inspired them to bring the innovation to life.
Kraft Heinz then leveraged the popular local bagel shops to add credibility in the bagel space, with in-store signage connecting the special hole-less bagels to Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Wild postings and street decals were strategically placed near each shop, in addition to the in-store signage.
“Although these bagel shops can’t all agree on how much cream cheese or what style bagel they prefer based on their locations, they do agree that no-hole bagels are a better way to enjoy the maximum amount of the one thing they all have in common—Philadelphia cream cheese,” said White.
Additionally, the brand is boosting Instagram and TikTok organic posts from Philadelphia social handles, and placing assets across Meta and Reddit. Partnering influencers have been recruited to "taste test" Philadelphia Bagel Wholes at their local bagel shops to share the experience with their followers. Whether or not consumers agree with the concept, the whole bagel has already garnered earned media like this and this.
[videopress GdyX9r4M]
Where & When: The Philadelphia Bagel Wholes will be available until Feb. 12 at all five partnering bagel shops, as well as online via Stviateurbagel.com in Canada and Goldbelly.com in the U.S., while supplies last. On top of earned media, the campaign is being supported through paid social, OOH, OLV and creator content.
Why: “The campaign was brought to life to showcase how Philadelphia, as the leader in the cream cheese category, is here to provide tangible solutions to real consumer problems and has the desire to drive conversation and engagement around topics of conversation being had already by Philly fans,” Kraft Heinz’s senior brand manager, Keenan White, told The Message. “The issue with bagels is that they have holes. Holes mean less bagel. Less bagel equals less room for Philly. So we thought, what if we closed the hole?”
How: The idea was picked up as soon as it was presented, said Rethink’s ECD Xavier Blais. “The clients immediately started making phone calls to bring more potential partners in.”
The brand launched teaser posts on social media in December, asking people if bagels would be better with no hole, said White. Strong engagement, which suggests the topic is more divisive than unanimous, inspired them to bring the innovation to life.
Kraft Heinz then leveraged the popular local bagel shops to add credibility in the bagel space, with in-store signage connecting the special hole-less bagels to Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Wild postings and street decals were strategically placed near each shop, in addition to the in-store signage.
“Although these bagel shops can’t all agree on how much cream cheese or what style bagel they prefer based on their locations, they do agree that no-hole bagels are a better way to enjoy the maximum amount of the one thing they all have in common—Philadelphia cream cheese,” said White.
Additionally, the brand is boosting Instagram and TikTok organic posts from Philadelphia social handles, and placing assets across Meta and Reddit. Partnering influencers have been recruited to "taste test" Philadelphia Bagel Wholes at their local bagel shops to share the experience with their followers. Whether or not consumers agree with the concept, the whole bagel has already garnered earned media like this and this.
[videopress GdyX9r4M]
