Dive Brief:
- Oscar Mayer's iconic Wienermobile, along with the WienerRover and WienerMini, are being joined by two new additions to the brand's fleet — the WienerCycle and WienerDrone — the company announced in a press release. For the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, all five vehicles are heading to Weiner, AR, to bring hot dogs to the entire town, and fans can follow them on Twitter at @Wienermobile.
- In May, Oscar Mayer rolled out a national campaign around healthier changes made to its hot dog recipe, including dropping artificial preservatives and added nitrates and nitrites. That effort brought the Wienermobile around the country based on fan request and featured additional TV, print, digital video, social media and PR support.
- The new vehicles in the WienerFleet are designed to expand where Oscar Mayer is able to deliver the new, healthier hot dogs. The WienerCycle is a three-wheeled moped with a hot dog warming station sidecar, and the WienerDrone is an unmanned hot dog-carrying aircraft for remote location delivery.
Dive Insight:
When Oscar Mayer first launched its push around healthier hot dogs, parent company Kraft Heinz said it was doubling the brand's budget to support the campaign. Adding new vehicles to the WienerFleet — including cutting-edge technology like a drone — gives some sense of where those extra resources have gone, and should help Oscar Mayer generate more buzz around the revamped product line.
Fourth of July is also a big time of year for barbecues — and, stemming from that, hot dog sales — so extending the effort now might optimize reach. Oscar Mayer doubling down on a marketing push intended to put forth a healthier image fits into an industry-wide trend toward more natural and less processed foods, in part to meet the desire of younger demographic groups, who often demand greater transparency in ingredients and food labeling.
The campaign is also yet another example of how brands are starting to tie digital extensions to out-of-home marketing efforts, with Oscar Mayer leveraging Twitter and the hashtags #ForTheLoveOfHotDogs and #contest to dictate where the fleet heads. P&G's Charmin brand ran a similar vehicle-based effort last week via a van equipped with a private restroom that could be requested online by those feeling the call of nature.
