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Time Inc. butters up millennials with new breakfast brand

Time Inc. is capitalizing on the cultural obsession over breakfast and brunch by introducing a new digital-first editorial brand, Extra Crispy, which contains its own social media accounts and features millennial-friendly, snackable content such as recipes, trends and influencer stories.

Extra Crispy is the second original brand developed by Time Inc.?s creative lab, The Foundry. With breakfast order sales topping $52 billion last year in the United States ? a 30 percent uptick from 2014 ? Time Inc. sought to expand its digital footprint by rolling out content that takes advantage of this phenomenon, which is particularly popular among millennial consumers.

?Extra Crispy builds on Time Inc.?s strategy to reach passionate audiences by creating new brands and expanding existing brand portfolios,? said Meredith Turits, senior strategist of brand development at The Foundry at Time Inc. ?Readers are consuming more and more content on Web and mobile.

?In an effort to reach millennials where they?ll be looking for new content experiences, it makes sense for us to focus this launch in the digital space.?

Serving up shareable content
Individuals can consume Extra Crispy?s content by visiting its dedicated site, extracrispy.com, or its namesake accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. There, consumers will be able to find a variety of breakfast-related how-tos, life hacks, trends, recipes and news stemming from celebrities and influencers.

?Extra Crispy is certainly a brand built with a millennial readership in mind,? Ms. Turits said. ?It?s an exciting opportunity to serve this highly engaged and very influential demographic with content experiences delivered in new, inventive, and ever-changing formats.?

For example, one of the more recent feature articles on the brand?s site is titled ?The Case of Taylor Ham, New Jersey?s Beloved Mystery Meat.? The story employs a satirical tone as it recognizes the history of Taylor Ham sandwiches and even includes quotes from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie about whether the meat should officially be called Taylor Ham or pork roll.

Another piece recounts an adult?s experiences of having brunch at the American Girl Café in Manhattan.

Extra Crispy seeks to take breakfast food off its metaphorical pedestal and make it more accessible and fun for the public.

The brand?s editorial team includes writers, editors and strategists from publishers inside and outside of food media, such as Bustle, the New York Times, Yahoo! and Tasting Table.

Extra Crispy is also bringing an interactive spin to its material by running a nationwide search for a Bacon Critic, a position that requires someone to cover a beat spanning bacon-centric drinks, food and culture. The critic will be given a three-month assignment to research, write about and critique the top bacon brands before deeming one as ?America?s Best Bacon? at the conclusion of his or her tenure.

Applicants must submit a short essay recounting their most favorable bacon-related memory. Consumers can visit any of Extra Crispy?s social media accounts to receive a link to the application form on the Web site.

Widening advertising opportunities
The Extra Crispy brand will be able to create marketing solutions for advertising partners by way of native and branded campaigns, augmented by traditional media. Its premier launch sponsor is Arla Foods, a Danish dairy brand currently in the midst of launching its sliced cheese and cream cheese products in the U.S.

Extra Crispy also wants to integrate live experiences into its promotional strategy, as evidenced by its media sponsorship of the upcoming CoffeeCon event in Brooklyn.

Time Inc. has been disseminating its content across a slew of mobile-first platforms in recent months, underscoring its commitment to reaching consumers on whichever channels they frequent the most.

This past February, Time Inc. took a mobile-first stance on two new Web sites that focus on beauty and career content, furthering the brand's appeal to women (see story).

Meanwhile, last fall, Time Inc. acquired the digital media brand HelloGiggles, which is deeply integrated with social media and mobile traffic, bringing the publication further into video and television (see story).

?Time Inc. has a content-everywhere strategy to deliver its best-in-class storytelling to readers whenever and wherever they want it and is well-positioned to adapt to an evolving media landscape,? Ms. Turits said.