The Situation:
Since 1921, Betty Crocker has built its brand around empowering homemakers. But many people who run their households no longer identify with the traditional image of homemaking or the stereotypes attached to it, which created a growing disconnect with the brand. Betty Crocker asked us to redefine homemaking and reframe the brand for modern homes and families.
The Objective
Build awareness of who today’s homemakers are and position Betty Crocker as a brand that celebrates every kind of family. We partnered with family studies expert Dr. Stephanie Coontz to publish research on the contemporary American family, released through a downloadable report and an anthem video. A series of mini-documentaries then followed four homemakers and their nontraditional families to put faces to the findings.
Then, we created a Betty Crocker experience at Pride in New York and Minneapolis to celebrate with a community that’s building upon traditional notions of family. The idea was produced as the winner of General Mills’ Bold Experiment competition.
We created a family friendly area within Pride, offering cookie and cupcake decorating. Visitors shared their creations to #bettysfamily.
We invited visitors into a video booth and asked “What is the one thing you want the world to know about your family?” Responses populated a special “Betty’s Family” Tumblr.
Betty at Pride case study video, which was shared broadly during “National Coming Out Day.”
When Minneapolis voted to become one of the first states in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage, Betty Crocker joined the historic occasion by gifting the first three couples to be wed in the state with custom wedding cakes.
“...the phrase “homemaker” seems old-fashioned, conjuring up images of kitchen-bound women in aprons. But rather than run from the word, General Mills is seeking to put a modern twist on it. ”
“Betty Crocker is helping to show Americans that the key ingredient to a family is simply love.”
“...a commitment to highlighting and celebrating the diversity of families”
“Betty Crocker’s finding her way into the modern-day American family’s kitchen...”