New US campaign: Kosher is cool
New York Times reports: Leading marketer of kosher foods about to launch its first campaign aimed at general market
Kosher as a hot brand? The New York Times reported that the leading marketer of kosher foods, Manischewitz, is about to launch its first campaign aimed at the general market as well as at consumers who traditionally buy kosher products for religious reasons.
According to the report, the multimillion-dollar campaign carries the theme "Simply Manischewitz." It includes online advertising, at manischewitz.com and Web sites such foodnetwork.com; ads in a general-market publication, Cooking Light magazine; ads sent to consumers as e-mail messages; and a cook-off with prizes provided by a mainstay brand, General Electric.
The Campaign's goal is to encourage consumers to ask grocers and other retailers to stock Manischewitz items not in the smaller kosher sections of stores, but in the more heavily trafficked aisles devoted to broad product categories like soup, crackers, noodles, sauces and candy.
Jeremy J. Fingerman, president and chief executive at the RAB Food Group in Secaucus, N.J., owned by RAB Holdings, told the New York Times that "Our aspiration is to be America's preferred specialty-food company."
"Although kosher foods are clearly our heritage and our anchor," Fingerman said, "this is about the 'and,' not the 'or.' We're reasserting our core kosher credentials and positioning ourselves for broader growth."
American shoppers spend more than USD 50 billion a year on kosher foods. Sales have been growing by double-digit percentages each year, compared with little if any growth each year for sales of packaged foods intended for the general market.
It is estimated that only one of five buyers of kosher foods is the traditional Jewish customer. Research has found that many non-Jewish consumers perceive kosher foods, made in accordance with centuries-old dietary laws, to be purer and higher in quality than the non-kosher products.
The campaign is being created for Manischewitz, part of the RAB Food Group, by Joseph Jacobs Advertising in New York, the Manischewitz agency for three decades, and IMC, an interactive agency in Holmdel, N.J.
