Dive Brief:

• Planters' Ad Awareness score, which tracks the number of adult consumers who recall seeing an ad for the brand in the past two weeks, increased to 18%, a new best for the brand in 2018, according to a YouGov Plan & Track analysis shared with Marketing Dive.
• The Kraft Heinz nut brand had an average Index score of 37 among U.S. adults from Aug. 1 to Nov. 30 this year, and recently reached a score of 42, a new high for 2018. The analysis bases its Index score on an average of six metrics: impression, value, quality, reputation, satisfaction and recommend. 
• Purchase consideration, or how likely a consumer is to purchase a brand when next in the market for the product, also increased for Planters. On Dec. 1, 32% of U.S. adults said they would consider purchasing Planters, and the number rose to 39% on Dec. 15. 

Dive Insight:

Planters appears to be faring well with consumers when it comes to brand awareness and purchase consideration, likely due to its iconic mascot Mr. Peanut, who stars in the brand's marketing campaigns. The YouGov analysis also attributes the brand's lift in purchase consideration to the holiday season, when more people purchase nuts for holiday parties or as gifts. Planters tends to see above-average scores across YouGov's metrics during the holiday season. 

Last year, Heinz Kraft moved the Planters ad account to McGarryBowen Chicago. Since then, the peanut brand partnered with Noon Whistle Brewery on a limited-edition peanut-flavored IPA called Mr. IPA-Nut, bringing together the classic combination of beer and peanuts. Planters also asked fans on social media to help them come up with a new catchphrase to use in a commercial promoting the beer. 

The strong purchase consideration and ad awareness should be welcome news for Kraft Heinz, which has been working to promote its consumer packaged goods brands and gain favor with younger consumers. While the company missed analysts expectations for Q4 2017, partially due to distribution losses in Planters nuts, the company has begun to see higher sales (despite having lower revenues due to a variety of factors).