Campbell’s traditional condensed soup brands have been in decline. The Tomato Soup variety, in particular, lacked relevance and awareness. Our challenge was to build on this iconic heritage but make it more relevant to modern consumers. The new TV campaign for Tomato Soup aimed to broaden its appeal, usage and consumption but we did not feel that TV advertising alone could meet this challenge.

Campbell’s Tomato Soup consumption rose by 4% its first increase this decade! Campbell’s involvement with "American Dreams" delivered the best viewer recall for three consecutive months. The winner of the promotion appeared on the show and was awarded a $100,000 scholarship. The US marketing and broadcast communities hailed this a milestone in television history and the activity received nationwide PR coverage.

A Campbell’s Tomato Soup essay contest became a seamlessly integrated recurring storyline in the show, placing the brand not just on television. The youngest daughter character purchased cans to enter the contest, ate the product and discussed her essay with family and friends. This plotline actively demonstrated the ‘possibilities’ for using Campbell’s Tomato Soup as the family enjoyed a soup dinner with mix-ins and prepared a welcome basket with Tomato Soup for their new neighbours.

This TV storyline was paralleled in real life via a consumer promotion in conjunction with NBC and Scholastic, the global children’s publishing and media company, targeting consumers in the classroom, supermarket and at home. NBC created a cast promo and co-branded spot to run in primetime and daytime. Scholastic communicated the contest to teachers and students through lesson plans, email and trade print. 42,000,000 promotional soup cans were produced. This television promotion was supported by radio, viral and instore channels.

Campbell’s Tomato Soup is pure Americana. Its iconic design has become part of history and popular culture. We believed this heritage still had value within the American public. We devised, negotiated and executed a ground breaking television partnership with NBC’s primetime family drama "American Dreams" set in the 1960s but addressing today’s cultural issues. It was a natural tie-in with the brand’s family values. This content partnership was a first for NBC and provided us with a central TV communications platform from which to build on Campbell’s heritage and tie-in all on-screen activity.