Dive Brief:

• The Ritz brand debuted its "Where There's Love, There's Family" holiday campaign to spotlight families created beyond blood relatives, per a press release. Made with the Martin Agency, the ad features vignettes with characters searching for belonging and ends with them each celebrating the holidays with their chosen families.
• The campaign includes a TV spot, digital videos, banner ads, social advertising and content partnerships with Hulu and Vice Media Group. Ritz will present an original content series called "Our Table" across Vice Media Group's platforms, including Vice Digital, Munchies, Refinery29, R29 and Somos.
• The uplifting holiday campaign keys into inclusion and belonging, with Ritz casting two gay men of color, a transgender woman and a non-binary person for the ad. In addition, Ritz is donating $50,000 to three charitable groups in the U.S.: It Gets Better Project, Hispanic Star and Invisible People.

Dive Insight:

With its holiday campaign, Ritz can inspire viewers to be more accepting of one another, especially during a time of social distancing, political disagreements and varying identities, Patty Gonzalez, senior director of marketing at Mondelez, said in a press release. The ad features a series of vignettes that show a grandmother unable to be with her family, a gay man whose mother hasn't responded to his communication attempts and a girl at a homeless shelter, but each finds connection by the end of the spot.

Despite the divided political climate, research suggests that diversity in marketing campaigns can resonate with consumers and thus be beneficial for brands. Brands with the highest diversity scores showed an 83% consumer preference, and brands with a range of cultural and demographic diversity gained 44% in average stock gain over a seven-quarter period ending in 2018, per a report from Deloitte-owned agency Heat. Underscoring the importance of such diverse campaigns, research from Procter & Gamble and GLAAD found that 80% of respondents exposed to LGBTQIA-inclusive media said they supported equal rights compared to those who hadn't seen that content. Along with its diverse ad, Ritz's charitable giving can help insulate the brand from claims of woke-washing.

Along with its partnership with Vice Media Group on a content series, Ritz joins a growing list of brands integrating Hulu into their marketing strategy, including Don Julio, Olay and KitchenAid. Such content marketing saw a boost before the pandemic that has persisted as brands attempt to engage with homebound consumers looking for information and entertainment.