Chances are, you devoured them while cramming for a college final or slipped them into your grocery shopping cart while no one was looking. But you’d never admit it.
And that’s the dilemma that the integrated marketers behind the Hot Pockets brand are facing.
Introduced 30 years ago, Hot Pockets quickly earned a humorous place in pop culture, even receiving an Urban Dictionary entry as “the most delicious form of evil.” But it’s time for the brand to grow up, and its brand-makers are deploying a range of integrated marketing strategies to show that Nestle-owned Hot Pockets is a serious contender for foodies seeking savory hot sandwiches.
Insist On Quality to Counter Perception Issues
First, the integrated marketing team responsible for the reinvention of Hot Pockets focused on the quality of the product. Advertising Age revealed that the new Hot Pockets campaign touts better ingredients, such as 100 percent angus beef, hickory ham, white-meat chicken and new crusts with baked-in flavors.
Then, the team turned its focus to creating better-quality integrated marketing campaigns. Gone are the cheesy TV advertisements, replaced by mouth-watering ads promoting the new ingredients. The first TV spot of the new campaign features beef slowly carved and crusts drizzled with seasonings.
In another decision to associate Hot Pockets with the concept of quality, the brand recruited celebrity chef and Food Network personality Jeff Mauro as its new spokesperson. In an upcoming video, Mauro takes viewers on a tour of a Nestle kitchen, showing how the Hot Pockets sandwiches are made, in an effort to engender trust among consumers.
For other ways to build brand credibility, review our tips in “Keys to Earning Customer Trust.”
