Carman’s Kitchen launches first major brand campaign in 30 years

Carman’s Kitchen today launches its first major brand campaign for TV and online to coincide with the company’s 30 year anniversary.

The campaign features a set of characters with the same name – The Carmans – who each represent an aspect of the brand’s personality and values.

From the ray of sunshine to the big thinker, and from the person who puts their heart into everything to the one who refines every detail, The Carmans showcase the caring values that have seen the Australian company grow into a local success story.

Founder Carolyn Creswell bought the fledgling business for $1,000 as a student in 1992 and packed every bag of muesli herself to build it into a leader in the cereal and muesli bar categories. Thirty years later the company sees an opportunity to attract a new generation of customers and enter new categories.

A strategic review by consultants East of Everything revealed that Creswell’s unique level of care and attention to detail remained at the core of the brand.

This insight informed the campaign concept while the idea to introduce multiple Carmans was born from the widespread belief that Carman is Creswell’s real name.

The Carmans are brought to life by Paul Middleditch and Plaza Films through a series of films set in the company’s “Heart and Soul” department (formerly known as R&D).

Beyond the characters, the campaign will showcase the real Carman’s inside the business and their work each day to deliver delight.

All of the campaign assets are designed to be flexible, connect in-store and tailored to social environments.

“Carman’s success has been built on the personal care everyone puts into creating our products. The Carmans are a great way to celebrate the army of caring people who are behind every product,” said Jed Simpfendorfer, Carman’s KitchenCMO.

“30years on we are excited to create a memorable brand that builds from our exceptional products. To do this, we tried to balance Byron Sharps theories on distinctiveness, Mark Ritson’s thoughts on differentiation, Karen Nelson-Fields research on attention characteristics across platforms, without being criticised or beaten up by any of the above,” said Simpfendorfer.

Sometimes great ideas stare you in the face. The best ones are interesting and memorable, mainly because they are true. Over the years people have thought Carolyn’s name was Carman and sometimes she went along with it.

Now she’s officially Carman and so is everyone else, said Grant Rutherford, founder, East of Everything.

“Carolyn literally makes sure the chocolate is the right shade of brown,” said Rutherford.

“But it’s not just Carolyn, everyone is obsessed with every little detail. It’s no ordinary care at Carman’s Kitchen, it’s beyond that.

“As we like to say, there’s care and then there’s the Carman’s kind of care.”