• by Danielle Oster , Yesterday

With a name like Bryan Cranston, the high-profile actor (“Breaking Bad,” “The Studio,” “The Phoenician Scheme”) is a perfect match for a cranberry-based brand.

That made him a natural choice for Ocean Spray’s new holiday campaign transforming the actor into a “Cranpus” character inspired by the “Krampus” character of Alpine Christmas folklore. But it’s not just the name that made him an ideal partner.

“Beyond his name being the perfect tie-in, he’s genuinely a huge fan of cranberries and the Ocean Spray brand,” Eliza Sadler, head of brand elevation at Ocean Spray, told Marketing Daily, also citing Cranston’s “humor and his love for storytelling.” 

Sadler explained that the creative concept was developed around the opportunity to work with Cranston, whom she described as “a character-builder” who acted as “an integral partner throughout the entirety of the campaign.”

“We first approached him a few months ago with the idea of ‘Just Add Cran, Not Cranston,’ which tells the story of him being so obsessed with cranberries that he hordes them all for himself,” she explained. “He was so inspired by the idea that he thought we could go even further, and thus the idea of Cranpus was born.”

She added, “He dove head-first into bringing Cranpus to life, as only Bryan can. And the work is better for it.” 

The ad at the center of the campaign introduces Cranpus as so obsessed with cranberries that he wants to steal them all for himself. Spots are running in 30-, 15,- and 6-second versions across channels including social media, streaming, and digital video.

“Holidays are our most important time of the year, and we are always looking for new ways to be bolder and more breakthrough. This year, we really wanted to celebrate the essentiality of cranberries during the holiday season,” Sadler explained. “And what better way to do that than to showcase what happens when someone steals them all for himself?”

The campaign will continue to develop, with a focus on social channels, ahead of the holiday season. Ocean Spray’s “Cranpus” campaign acts as a continuation of the “Just Add Cran” masterbrand campaign the brand launched last year, while its media strategy reflects a broader shift to greater investments in marketing on social media platforms.

“We’ve made a stronger effort to focus on more social-first, bespoke assets for paid media to ensure we’re showing up where consumers are and stopping the scroll as often as we can,” Sadler said. “Cranpus is just getting started, and he won’t be confined to just the [video ads]. Fans can see him and interact with him across our social media now, with more surprises coming their way.”