• by Steve Ellwanger , October 6, 2020

Campbell Soup Co. is looking to heat up sales of its Well Yes! soups with a new campaign featuring actress and comedian Mindy Kaling.

The “Eat Bright” initiative from Leo Burnett emphasizes taste and targets mainly females 25-54—along with anyone who has “a positive outlook on life and on food,” the agency’s senior vice president and creative director, Isabela Ferreira, tells Marketing Daily.

Kaling, perhaps most recently known for creating the Netflix series “Never Have I Ever,” was chosen to be the face of Well Yes! because “her witty, bright personality and sense of style really align with the brand,” says Ferreira. “We thought she was a perfect fit.”

In commercials that launched yesterday, Kaling engages in wordplay while extolling the virtues of the brand's flavor and nutrition.

“Roasted chicken soup with rich bone broth”? Kaling asks in one 15-second spot. “Cluck, yeah! Live well, don’t compromise and eat bright.”

In another spot, she describes tomato and sweet basil soup as “equal parts nutritious and delicious” before declaring “Basil-Tov”!

In a recent conference call with financial analysts, Campbell president and CEO Mark Clouse was blunt about the need to rejuvenate the Well Yes! brand, which launched in December of 2016. He cited quality, taste and better pricing as priorities.

“This is a relaunch of Well Yes!,” says Ferreira. “They reformulated the foods while maintaining all the nourishing ingredients, they improved taste and elevated category standards.”

“We expect this will provide a far more attractive, better-for-you option and a much stronger competitive position to capture category growth and younger consumers,” Clouse said.

The campaign is running on Instagram, online video and Hulu, where it will sponsor ad-free viewing and “surround and find consumers who have viewed Mindy Kaling content.”

Some programmatic media buys for “Eat Bright” target the convenience of Well Yes! “sippable” containers with “customized creative based on those moments like working from home or weekend nights in.”

Other online buys include editorial content that is positive in nature and purchase-based targeting “to hone in on competitor purchases.”