In mid-2011, Halls, a Kraft Foods brand, found that consumers were using social networks to discuss why green grape flavoured Halls had been removed from the market and were asking the company to bring it back.

'Bring Back Halls Green Grape!'With this first post, the company detected that consumers were interested in seeing this flavour back on the market. The post was quickly liked and commented by hundreds of people. In the Orkut community, called 'I love Halls Green Grape', with over 30,000 members, participants suggested a protest in front of the Kraft Foods building, with banners and signs demanding the return of the green grape flavour.

Faced with this outcry, rather than explaining to consumers why the product had been discontinued, Kraft Foods Brazil saw a business opportunity within the protest. The company not only listened to its consumers, but also relaunched the product in an unprecedented action, paying homage to those fans who had made their opinions heard. The faces of the 3 most outspoken fans were immortalised in busts made by sculptors who used Halls Green Grape candy as their raw material. This was all told first-hand to the brand’s fans on Facebook, complete with an exclusive tribute.

The agency proposed a strategy integrating earned, owned, and paid media to elect the 3 greatest fans of Halls Green Grape who had been most engaged in bringing the product back, and a video was aired inviting other consumers to enter for a chance to win a bust made out of Halls Green Grape. Specialised artists developed 4 sculptures with the faces of the most loyal online fans and one more who was elected through a Facebook app. Over 5,000 Halls candies were melted down and used to create each bust, a process that took a month of work. Since every work of art deserves an exhibit, one of the busiest subway stations in São Paulo was chosen as the stage for public viewing.

The product sold 318% above expectations and contributed to a 22% growth in revenues for Kraft Foods Brasil in 2011.

In addition, the action had great returns for the product’s Facebook and other social network pages, as well as great press visibility, generating spontaneous and word-of-mouth media for the brand.

The campaign generated an ROI of R$8 in earned media for every R$1 spent. The action was twice listed by Advertising Age among the best 10 actions of 2011.

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A 5th bust was produced to honour the Kraft Foods Brazil employee who had most supported the return of the flavour from within the company, in an unprecedented internal marketing action.

Today, the 5 busts are permanently displayed at Kraft’s head offices in São Paulo.

What might merely have been a piece of trade news became a subject of interest for TV news and the largest newspapers and magazines in the country.