Honey Maid is a wholesome brand of graham cracker products with a 90-year history but an uncertain future in the cluttered world of healthier snacks. Its old-fashioned image had moved it to the back of consumers’ minds and pantries, and prevented it from getting its fair share of category growth. It needed to find a way of connecting with modern families in a way that would allow it to stay true to its wholesome products and values. And it needed to do so on a modest budget, compared to deep-pocketed competitors.

In conversations with families we discovered that Honey Maid could play a credible role by creating moments of simple connection and bonding. Moreover, we realized that today’s modern families no longer conform to the cookie-cutter ideals beloved by marketers: many were blended or single-parent, LGBT or interracial couples. But all were wholesome because they were loving families.

This insight drove our strategy and creative: to take a stand for wholesome families of every kind.

We brought this idea to life by featuring a range of real, loving families on TV and in short documentaries while inviting dialogue and sharing through digital.

While the overall response was positive, a small but vocal community of detractors attacked the campaign and tried to instigate a boycott.

Instead of backing down, we fearlessly faced the haters – not with negativity but with love. We commissioned a work of art that, literally, turned negative responses into love while celebrating the positive response to our campaign. Left without a budget, we relied on our supporters to spread this message of love for us. The response was overpowering. The campaign achieved every objective we had set ourselves.

We created impact far larger than our spend through an outsized earned social media response that included almost a quarter of a billion impressions, over a thousand PR placements and over 16M video views. We strengthened the differentiating core attributes that matter to modern parents; and at the same time drove future purchase intent by 12.7%, increased penetration by 5.8% and increased frequency by 8.7%.

Most importantly we increased value share of base Honey Maid Grahams by as much as 10.9%, and generated a return of $3.81 on every media dollar spent.

More than anything, we’ve set Honey Maid on a course of future growth by making it as relevant now as it was 90 years ago.