Rodney Atkins and Love And Theft Celebrate Two Tastes of Country

© 2010 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.

Outdoor parties with live Country Music stand near the top of summertime iconography. That’s why two divisions of a well-known company have pursued independent campaigns based on pairing their products with those winning images.

Early in 2010, Kraft Singles announced it would partner with Disney ABC to launch a contest to determine the “Single Best Town in America.” That “single” word ties together the packaging of individual slices of cheese with the uniqueness of the winning town.

“Because Kraft Singles is the quintessentially American cheese, we wanted to celebrate something that was specifically American,” said Clayton Wai-Poi, Senior Brand Manager, Kraft Foods. “Our consumers tend to live in smaller towns and cities and are proud of where they live, so we thought there was an opportunity to engage them on what one-of-a-kind feature made their town special.”

To find the right faces for this campaign, Kraft Foods turned to Disney ABC Unlimited, the part of the Walt Disney Company that fields advertising agency queries. They responded with a campaign idea based on a musical act — specifically, a Country artist — that could spread the word and then perform at a free public function in the selected community.

Why Country? “The short answer is that 60 million people can’t be wrong,” said Dan Longest, Senior VP, Disney ABC Unlimited. “There are lots of Country Music fans out there. If you want a grassroots, strong emotional connection, that genre lends itself very nicely. And in conversations with Lyric Street Records we came up with Love And Theft, which leant itself perfectly to the brand.”

“We had released product in August, so timing-wise it lined up with working their second single at Country radio,” said Heather Conley, Director of Marketing, Lyric Street Records, referring to the trio’s debut album World Wide Open and “Dancing in Circles,” released as the second single in December 2009. “So we pitched that we could do a grand prize offer of a hometown concert with Love And Theft, which would also include ABC soap stars.” 

Votes were tallied on www.FamilyFun.com/Best-Town-Contest, a page on the Web site for ABC Disney’s FamilyFun magazine. Love And Theft whipped up interest online and through commercials on ABC Daytime shows and SOAPnet, with members of the group extolling their own hometowns. (“One of the best things about growing up in Charlotte was NASCAR and the whole racing community,” offered Eric Gunderson during his Webisode, for example.)

After the contest deadline of April 11, Three Lakes, Wis., was declared the winner; the block party is set for Aug. 3. But even before that announcement, the guys in Love And Theft were clearly enjoying their roles as spokespersons. “Who knows?” suggested group member Stephen Barker Liles. “We might even write a song about it!”

Rodney Atkins did exactly that. As the celebrity face on a campaign to laud Velveeta Shells & Cheese as “the best side of dinner,” he created voice-overs for commercials, which began airing in March. (“They said, ‘We love your Southern drawl, but we need you to speed it up for a 10-second spot’,” Atkins recalled, with a chuckle.) And he did write a song for the company’s contest, which invites participants to go to www.Velveeta.com/RodneyAtkins and reflect on the family togetherness that represents the real “best side of dinner.” (Atkins will select the Top 5 finalists, whose essays will then be posted online for the public to choose the winner by September. The lucky essayist will receive a free private cookout and a backyard concert with Atkins.)

“We know our consumer and she’s a very Middle American mom, a traditional and practical woman,” noted Greg Gallagher, Velveeta Shells & Cheese Brand Manager, Kraft Foods. “Her value system and way of life reflect very well in the Country Music genre, so we chose Country Music as a way to break through the media clutter with the message that Velveeta Shells & Cheese performs really well as a side dish.”

With his well-known love of family life, Atkins was ideal to this job. “A true brand is ultimately about a relationship with the consumer,” said Jeff Tuerff, VP of Marketing at Atkins’ label, Curb Records. “With his value-oriented persona and his music being about real life, Rodney connects on a unique level with Country fans. It just so happens that this fan base is the same demo for Velveeta Shells & Cheese.”

That connection tightened when Atkins agreed to write a song for the campaign. The company’s only restriction was that his lyric could not mention the product. “We didn’t want a commercial jingle,” said Gallagher. “We wanted a real, honest Country song that reflected the idea that ‘the best side of dinner’ is really to be with your family at the table, sharing quality time.”

Atkins responded with “Get Together,” which was made available as a free download to the first 100,000 visitors on www.Velveeta.com/RodneyAtkins, a Velveeta-sponsored Atkins hub on www.CMT.com, which also features profiles of his crew members — his “sidekicks” — to reflect the “side dish” theme. The song played as well in commercials and for air-guitar heroes and wannabe stars inside a special “side shack.” Set up at selected Atkins concerts and other events, including CMA Music Festival, this structure allows fans to record digital videos of themselves performing “Get Together” with Atkins against a green-screen background.

“It comes down to touch points,” noted Atkins’ manager Greg Hill, President, GHM/Red Light Management. “In a modern world, where people are bombarded with information, having natural touch points directly to fans is a big benefit. This partnership has helped us reach people who are predisposed to liking Rodney in ways that we never had before.”