• The New York Times, Monday, October 1, 2007 11 AM

Kraft is devoting a campaign to the glorification of the grilled cheese sandwich in the hopes of reviving its flagging Kraft Singles sliced-cheese brand. The campaign's centerpiece is a contest that begins on Oct. 15 on MySpace (myspace.com/haveahappysandwich). Computer users will be asked to create video clips that celebrate grilled cheese; the winner gets $50,000 and a chance to have his or her video produced as a commercial.

In campaigns from the longtime previous agency for Kraft Singles--the Chicago office of JWT--the brand was peddled on functional benefits like calcium content. Under its new boutique agency, Nitro, "what we're promising is that for the three or four minutes you're having a Kraft grilled cheese sandwich, you're happy," says global executive creative director Kathy Delaney.

Kraft is suffering from lagging growth as consumers switch to cheaper store brands, costlier gourmet-style products or more innovative offerings from competitors like ConAgra, Hormel and Procter & Gamble. To help reverse its falling fortunes, CEO Irene B. Rosenfeld is increasing the company's huge marketing budget--estimated at $1.4 billion a year--by $300 million to $400 million.

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