Bumble Bee Seafoods Launches New Ad Campaign
Bumble Bee Seafoods announced the launch of a breakthrough campaign that asks the world to rethink shelf-stable tuna.
Challenging consumers to reconsider the ways they can use Bumble Bee products, the iconic household brand is redefining how it sources, produces, packages and now markets seafood.
“Bumble Bee is a 120-year-old brand that deserves a refreshing, innovative re-boot. We’ve made several changes during the last couple of years to our products and packaging and now we are topping that off with a breakthrough marketing effort,” explained Todd Putman, Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer for Bumble Bee. “The ‘YES! BUMBLE BEE!’ campaign is a positive, uplifting and hopefully a tad bit funny campaign that is meant to bring a smile to people’s faces – something we all need a bit more of right now.”
Putman explained that consumer research revealed that even among regular tuna consumers, people were simply not equating tuna’s many benefits with the Bumble Bee product – offering an opening for the company to work on building brand love and preference. “It was also time to highlight our product range and innovation in the category,” he added.
“You can’t just tell someone tuna is great, you have to force them to re-appraise it. That’s what we really focused on,” said Damien Eley, Executive Creative Director and Founding Partner at The Many advertising agency. “And it wasn’t much more complicated than isolating the awesome benefits of Bumble Bee tuna—benefits that people may not have known or have at least thought about for a while—and then finding the most unexpected ways in which we could deliver that.”
The “YES! BUMBLE BEE!” campaign by The Many is a series of four spots that utilize the iconic styles of sports, active lifestyle and fast food commercials to surprise viewers with the benefits of shelf-stable tuna and push up against category norms. Think: sports performance and protein. The outdoors and portable energy. Fast food and flavor. Delivery and convenience. The unexpected part? The vehicle is Bumble Bee tuna in its well-earned, real-life position as a protein-rich food source.
Bumble Bee is placing a renewed emphasis on putting consumers at the center of its decisions. The pandemic has brought a surge of new users to the tuna category, particularly younger consumers. In consumer research conducted by Bumble Bee, 82 percent say the product is better than expected with three-fourths of them saying tuna is a great value.
Strategic investments, including the new advertising campaign as well as an award-winning packaging redesign hitting grocery shelves now, are milestones for Bumble Bee’s continued brand transformation journey. For more information, visit BumbleBee.com and TheBumbleBeeCompany.com.