Honey Maid is an iconic American brand that’s been part of families’ lives for nearly 90 years. But despite a high nostalgia factor, awareness and affinity had faded. It was seen as old-fashioned. We needed to make it relevant again.

So we launched a new campaign, This is Wholesome, which recognized that, over time, Honey Maid and the families who enjoy its products have evolved. But just as Honey Maid’s products are still made with wholesome ingredients, the wholesome connections that make family, family also haven’t changed.

We launched with TV and online documentaries featuring real modern families (a same-sex family, mixed race family and a single dad) and used banner advertising and a strategic PR plan to further drive awareness.

The social community responded, mostly positively but mixed with some negative replies. We stood behind our message with the ultimate display of wholesome: a film that turned the negative into love.

Using social listening, we seeded the video by sharing a link to the new film with everyone who had supported the initial campaign - first consumers and then media outlets. We hit three million views in just four days and the story was picked up by every major news outlet, accruing 115 million media impressions. After 90 years, we made the brand top of mind (Google search of Honey Maid increased 402%) and made the public fall in love with Honey Maid once again.

TV, documentaries and our newsroom launched on March 10th. We responded to social commentary, encouraging fans to join the Honey Maid family by sharing their family photos to #thisiswholesome

Using sentiment analysis, we recognized that the majority of comments were positive, with a small minority of negative replies. Reflecting this, we created the Love video.

On April 3, we responded via Twitter/Facebook to campaign supporters (consumers, then media) with a film link. The only other support was a tiny promoted social budget (no PR). This organic conversation sparked an outpouring of coverage.

Social was the only effort behind the Love video: it reached one million views in 24 hours and 3.5 million in under a week. The video was shared 273,990 times across platforms. Our fan bases increased: Facebook +13,000 (7% growth), Twitter +3,900 (33% growth). Social engagement increased 19 times over the previous years’ average (Trax analytics). Search increased 402% on the previous two weeks.

Early reads show purchase intent for those who have seen the campaign is nearly 10% higher than for those who haven’t, and we have seen a reverse in the sales decline.