Millennial Marketing Jumps the Shark
Posted On November 27, 2012
Campbell’s Sou
p may have outdone themselves, and everyone else, with the generational marketing of their new product line, Campbell’s Go. “Designed by Millennials for Millennials,” is Campbell’s pitch for a new line of soup in a microwaveable pouch. The immediate reaction is that the effort is, well, overcooked.
Brian Williams of NBC News said the product launch, which overtly pushes lots of Millennials’ hot buttons, “marked the end of the world.” The soups’ packaging recalls Capri Suns, the product page looks like Tumblr, and Millennials are encouraged to create playlists about the soups. Millennials pictured on the pouches look like caricatures.
More than Williams’ reaction, the response of Stephen Colbert, Gawker, and Consumerist may doom the effort. Those are all arbiters of Millennial taste and they have all lampooned Campbell’s Go within days of its launch. Perhaps the lesson of this episode is that generational marketing shouldn’t scream out, “Hey look, we’re targeting your demographic! Cool, right?”
http://www.thedailymeal.com/stephen-colbert-brian-williams-not-fan-new-millennials-campbell-soups