ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

Kraft relies on mobile advertising to anchor social efforts

Kraft?s Macaroni & Cheese brand is running a mobile advertising campaign that aims to build the company?s relationship with consumers on Twitter.

Kraft is running the campaign through a variety of mobile sites and applications, including Harper?s Bazaar and The Weather Channel. The campaign centers around its #MissedDinner initiative.

?Kraft built an inconsistent experience for Homestyle Mac & Cheese,? said Mandy Lewis, director of Acquity Group. ?They kept oscillating to the regular Mac & Cheese brand which has a different target audience. 

?The video?s landing page was Homestyle and then the Twitter site was not. So Kraft missed on the customer design criteria,? she said. ?Marketing that doesn?t is just ineffective and a waste of energy. The difficult part is actually determining what it is that customers seek from your brand.

?Kraft directed the coupon of Homestyle Mac & Cheese to www.coupons.com which only allowed the user to print the coupon.  This seems quite funny that someone who is mobile would have access to a printer.  Kraft missed on the mobility criteria; the site should have integrated with Passbook or ePass, or even their local grocery chain.?

Ms. Lewis is not affiliated with Kraft. She commented based on her expertise on the subject. 

Kraft did not respond to press inquiries. 

Digitally cheesy
The Kraft mobile ad features a smiling macaroni with the tag line ?You Know You Love It. Who?s Hungry??

When consumers tap on the ad, they are automatically redirected to the company?s site, http://www.misseddinner.com where they can get a coupon for Kraft?s new microwavable homestyle macaroni & cheese bowls.

Furthermore, Kraft has implemented a video within the landing page that further promotes its new product.

Mocial
Nowadays, everything is about mobile and social.

When paired together, both complement each other.

By adding a coupon to the campaign, Kraft further engaging with consumers and incentivizing them to tryout its new macaroni & cheese bowls.

?As customers move between communication mediums, every broken link in the conversation gives them a reason to choose a competitor,? Ms. Lewis said. 

?Give consumers what they want, and your brand is likely to be top of mind when you can fill a need,? she said. ?The target audience was confusing, the video commercial showed a father, but yet the media they chose was Harper?s Bazaar. 

?Not sure they are picking the right readership for the medium of the display ad.?

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York