Kraft Heinz deepens UFC partnership around Oscar Mayer P3, Devour brands

Dive Brief:

Kraft Heinz's protein snack Oscar Mayer P3 and frozen foods line Devour will expand their partnerships with mixed martial arts brand UFC, according to a press release.
Oscar Mayer P3 will debut an original series at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas to highlight the importance of protein in athletes' performance and daily routines. Devour will integrate into the YouTube series “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight” with marketing placements and mentions.
The brands will also be featured at UFC live events and launch dedicated products for the league. The campaign additionally includes social media and telecast elements.

Dive Insight:

Under the expanded partnership, Kraft Heinz hopes to bolster two relatively new product lines by targeting the UFC's large audience, including its more than 6 million YouTube subscribers. The content integrations will potentially help the brands reach a wider viewership, as original digital video tends to attract younger, more diverse and tech-savvy viewers. UFC is also popular with millennials and has grown into a multibillion-dollar enterprise.

The news comes as Kraft Heinz recently wrote down the value of its Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands by $15.4 billion. The poor performance could be tied to the company not investing enough in its marketing and branding, according to AdExchanger. Under the leadership of G3 Capital, Kraft Heinz has used a zero-based budgeting approach, which requires all expenses be justified for each period rather than adding onto the prior period's spend. The goal was to grow profits while cutting expenses in areas like marketing and agencies, but that's proved disastrous for the packaged foods marketer.

Linking up Oscar Mayer P3 products with UFC could help freshen up the brand and reconnect with consumers, who may see it as outdated. Millennials have especially shunned processed packaged foods, instead opting for fresher, healthier meal options.

Kraft Heinz has been investing more in new products, like Devour, which resulted from its Springboard startup incubator and has grown to $7 million in sales in three years since launch, per AdExchanger. Kraft Heinz also seems to be shelling out more for marketing around the frozen foods brand.

Devour's continued partnership with UFC is in line with its edgy, male-centric image. The brand was a first-time Super Bowl advertiser this year, with a food porn-themed commercial. It ran promotional ads on the porn site Pornhub ahead of the big game.