Campaign of the Week: Planters' Mr. Peanut Ad Tests Craveability

If you’ve seen any ads for Planters’ Peanuts in the past, then you’re likely familiar with Mr. Peanut. The monocled mascot is back now in a new ad where he faces his nemesis, a nutcracker. In the ad, Mr. Peanut calls attention to the “crave-ability” of Planters’ peanuts. So just how do consumers respond to the ad and the popular character? We asked 950 respondents about their thoughts on snack foods and then tested the impact of the latest Planters’ Mr. Peanut ad.

Snack Foods

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest online survey, 6% of respondents said that they purchase snack foods daily. 25% buy snacks a few times per week. 44% do so a few times per month. 11% buy them a few times every three months. 4% buy snack foods less frequently than once every three months. And 10% aren’t snack consumers at all. More specifically, 65% of snack consumers said they’ve at least tried Planters products. And 28% purchase them regularly. Consumers were more likely to buy Lays, Ritz, Cheetos and Oreo products regularly. But Planters’ was considered a more popular brand than Rold Gold.

Planters’ Mr. Peanut Ad

Overall, 13% of respondents said they would be certain or practically certain about choosing Planters’ products the next time they purchase snack foods. And 21% said it would be very probable. Of those who viewed the Mr. Peanut ad, 13% said they would be certain or practically certain about choosing Planters for their next snack food purchase. And 23% said it would be very probable. In addition, 64% of those who viewed the ad said they’ve seen commercials featuring Mr. Peanut in the past. Of those respondents, 14% said they would be certain or practically certain about choosing Planters products the next time they purchase snack foods. And 26% said it would be very probable.

Brand Attributes

Respondents ranked Planters higher than the other snack food brands listed in terms of healthiness, but not any other positive factors. Those who viewed the Mr. Peanut ad were slightly more likely to rank the brand highly in terms of healthiness. But it didn’t make any significant impact on other factors.

Key Takeaways

The Planters’ Mr. Peanut ad seemed to have a slight impact on snack food consumers. And it had an even bigger impact on those who had already seen ads featuring Mr. Peanut. So for Planters, that would mean they could potentially get an even higher return on investment for this particular ad by using the same distribution channels as they have with past Mr. Peanut ads. However, since there were a good portion of consumers who were not already familiar with Mr. Peanut, it could also be a benefit for the company to air the ad to a wider audience so they’re more likely to be familiar with the character when future ads come around. But that would mean not seeing as big of an impact from this particular ad right away. You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.

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Photo Credit: Mr. Peanut by Jason Kuffer under CC BY-SA 2.0