Edwards’ brand awareness is much lower than its three main frozen pie competitors—Marie Callender's, Sara Lee, and The Cheesecake Factory—and the overall media spend for these competitors over the last three years ranged from 3 to 50 times more than Edwards’.
In 2023, Edwards focused on growing brand awareness and increasing usage occasions as a means to drive business and category growth. Pie is traditionally popular during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, but the summer offers plenty of gatherings perfect for frozen pie, including Independence Day. This holiday—and the days leading up to it—would be the perfect time to introduce an Edwards campaign to consumers from both a business and creative perspective.
With a paid media budget under $100k, it was critical for Edwards to go to market with a bold, resonant idea that could punch above its weight.
Research revealed an opportunity for Edwards to connect not only with the core pie consumer, but a new, younger target audience. “Katie” is a younger Gen X (or older millennial) parent living a demanding and chaotic life. Despite an exhausting schedule, she’s an optimist who keeps a sense of humor through it all. She’s a heavy social media user who appreciates content that reflects her reality and can make her laugh.
We set out to do that by identifying relatable humor as our way in. Research into pop culture trends showed a resurgence of ‘90s nostalgia. And an audit of that era served up a golden opportunity: 1999’s American Pie.
Our target audience was in their late teens/early twenties when American Pie was released and we saw potential for Edwards to tap into the comedic entendre of the 1990’s classic. But, the potential risks of associating with the R-rated movie required careful planning to strike just the right tone. There was an opportunity to go big and leverage the most famous pie scene in big-screen history. And there was only one influencer right for the job: Jason Biggs, America’s biggest pie lover. He’d been declining pie-related opportunities for 24 years, but when he heard our vision, he bit. The Edwards Pie Lovers Unite campaign was born.
The mission: bring people together around their love of pie with Jason’s self-deprecating sense of humor as the focal point. We needed to walk a fine line with how we used Jason, ensuring the campaign had enough scratch to attract attention, while also being safe enough so as not to veer into lewd or inappropriate territory. We called it the “Shrek test”—a filter that weaves in adult humor that goes over the head of the uninitiated. For those unfamiliar with American Pie, our content would be innocuous, but viewers acquainted with the famous pie scene would be in on the joke. Our consumer testing supported our instinct that the Edwards consumer target had a fondness for the film and the creative approach.
We set out to wring every ounce of potential out of the campaign, building it from the beginning to clear the highest earned bar, but also optimize engagement across every touchpoint where Jason could wield his influence. That, of course, included social channels such as TikTok and Instagram, but also spanned trade, internal comms, some light paid advertising, website, email and more.
It only made sense to launch the campaign with a limited-edition pie inspired by Jason’s favorite flavors, aptly named Pie Lovers Passion Fruit. People could get their hands on it—and Jason playfully emphasized “hands”—at PieLoversUnite.com just in time for the Fourth of July. Because there’s nothing more American than pie, right? We served it up with a tasty teaser video that parlayed Jason’s pie-loving cred into his new role as an Edwards influencer, innuendos and all.
With no big TV or digital ad buys, we had to make the campaign as shareable as the pie itself. The launch of the content on Jason’s and Edwards’ TikTok and Instagram accounts was timed with a media tour with Jason. The tour included live in-studio and satellite visits with outlets across America, as well as interviews with pop culture publications. The call-to-action at every point directed people to PieLoversUnite.com where they could enter to claim a pie.
The campaign garnered over two million engagements across social and netted a 99.9% positive sentiment. The average Instagram engagement rate for the campaign content increased 2,300% with comments ranging from, “Freaking amazing marketing. Guess I’m off to go buy a frozen pie . . .” to “This wins for most brilliant celeb endorsement. Millennials everywhere are applauding.” Dozens of commenters even praised the Edwards marketing department, calling for them to be given a raise.
The campaign earned over 3 billion earned media impressions, with Jason conducting interviews and TV anchors nationwide enjoying Edwards pie. Segments totaled over 50 minutes of airtime filled with positive banter that money couldn’t buy.
Most importantly, the campaign led to a 10% year-over-year increase in sales during the same timeframe. And Edwards led category growth, with its brand dollar volume exceeding the frozen pie and cheesecake category five-fold during the summer months.
The activation drove widespread awareness among millennials and younger Gen Xers, and triggered a boost in social engagement. Aided awareness increased 5%, while the Edwards Net Promoter Score increased 43%. And 53% of research respondents said they’re more likely to purchase Edwards after seeing the content.
Edwards and Jason Biggs proved to be the partnership fans were craving. The amount of social shares and comments about the genius nature of the campaign exceeded the Edwards team’s wildest expectations and energized key stakeholders. And with fans hungry for more, plans for a sequel are in the works for 2024.
