Dive Brief:

• The Bel Group's The Laughing Cow cheese spread kicked off a new spring cross-channel campaign that includes digital, out-of-home (OOH), social media and event marketing, according to details shared with Marketing Dive.
• The "Because It's Better to Laugh" effort debuts on Monday, March 2 with ads in Times Square on the Nasdaq and Thomson Reuters billboards. The creative promotes the healthy role of laughter and compares it to the healthy role of eating.
• The effort supports the line's new packaging and formula, which contains more calcium and protein. In addition to the digital and OOH efforts, the company will distribute product samples at various events across the country.

Dive Insight:

The Bel Group is pitching The Laughing Cow as a healthy form of snacking by connecting the health benefits of laughing with its signature happy cow icon. Highlighting the cheese wedges as a healthy and fun snack comes as more consumers embrace snacking throughout the day but are concerned about the negative effects of processed foods.

The focus on laughter makes sense given the brand's name, but is also based on a poll of American consumers by the company from October 2019 that found that 59% would like to laugh more frequently.

The effort comes amid a push by The Bel Group, which also produces Babybel cheese, to remove artificial colors and flavors in its products, achieve carbon-neutral status by 2025 and extend its offerings by developing hybrid items that integrate dairy with plant-based ingredients.

Last year, the company created a pop-up cafe where visitors could try different ways to eat the cheese spread, Campaign reported. For the "Snack like you cafe" effort, the brand teamed up with chef Paul Hannigan to create snacks with The Laughing Cow, including mac and cheese and raspberry and white chocolate pudding. There was also a personalization station where guests could make their own snacks.