Our client came to us with a simple question—how can we get kids to ask their parents for Goldfish crackers?

Their once peaceful corner of children’s snacks had been invaded by the biggest, baddest brands in the game. Doritos. Cheez-Its. Cheetos. These snacks dominated the aisle with first-to-category innovations, endless flavor varieties, and a ruthless promotion strategy.

Before long, Goldfish found itself overshadowed and underappreciated. Penetration fell and frequency dropped to just 2.8x purchases a year1 as kids moved on to flashier options.

By 2009 Goldfish barely cracked the top 50 brands kids love (#49).2

Instead of delivering the expected ad—over-excited kids eating snacks to peppy music—we wanted to create something that young fans could connect with, something that filled them with a sense of wonder.?

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With this, we introduced them to “The Adventure of Finn & Friends” and invited them into an imaginary world where they could hang out with a cast of childlike characters with traits that made them easily relatable.?

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And, rather than giving them dead-end 30-second snippets, we built a layered narrative that would expand, not just over a series of episodes, but for years to come and on a wide array of digital channels.

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Every step of the way, we made it so kids could infuse their own imagination into the storyline in their own unique way.

In the 2000s, kids’ worlds were exploding. Way beyond television, they were discovering YouTube, Wii, and the very beginnings of social media. That meant we had to find ways to connect with them everywhere they go, not just when parked in front of the TV.

That gave us a kind of crazy idea—what if we made Goldfish into an entertainment property in its own right. More than a cracker, more than “just another snack,” but a source of genuine inspiration and entertainment for kids everywhere.

To do just that, we tapped into how much kids love to play with food. Because the unique shape of Goldfish crackers lets kids tell stories in ways that other snacks just can’t.

So while other grown-ups saw playing with their food as just making a mess, we understood that playing with Goldfish could become a delicious and wholesome means of self-expression.

Enter “Finn & Friends,” a multi-channel world of entertainment for kids to immerse themselves in.

Transforming our TV buy into an animated series, we created evolving storylines and introduced a growing cast of characters for kids to cheer, boo, and fall in love with.

And like any good entertainment property, we weren’t content with just a show. So we tapped into the imaginations of kids everywhere to create over a dozen games, mobile apps, and experiences that set our stories—and crackers— loose in the real world.

Now in its 11th season, Finn & Friends have been featured on Disney, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network. We’ve floated in The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. And we’ve stolen the show during the Kids’ Choice Awards.

Once barely cracking the top 50 brands, “Finn & Friends” has made Goldfish the #10 brand kids love.3

No longer an overshadowed kids’ snack, the Goldfish brand of today transcends its category as a bona fide entertainer with dozens of episodes and millions of app downloads under its belt.

All this fun has really paid off—Goldfish are now the most requested snack brand among kids age 6-12.4 And the #1 Kid’s cracker.5

But what’s really awesome is that we did all of this not by copying our flashier competition, but by letting kids everywhere tell their own stories with Goldfish crackers.

SOURCES:

Pepperidge Farm proprietary data

SmartyPants, Kids Top 100 Most Loved Brands (2010)

SmartyPants, Kids Top 100 Most Loved Brands (2019)

Ipsos Kids Tracker, (September 2017 through March 2020)

Pepperidge Farm F21 AOP (3/20)