Monty Python's favourite food is making its first foray into the chilled meat snacking category with a fish finger-like range that can be eaten hot or cold.
Spam Sticks, rolling out next month, are made from strips of chopped pork and ham coated in breadcrumb (rsp: £1.79 to £1.99/pack of 10). They are positioned as a ready-to-eat snack, or as part of a main meal.
The new format would help attract both new and lapsed consumers, said Spam producer Hormel Foods.
"We wanted to develop a versatile product that would appeal to a wider audience from kids, to students to professionals," said customer business manager Nicole Judd. "Recent research has shown a strong market for busy professionals and Spam Sticks offer both a convenient and satisfying option."
However, experts suggested the NPD for Spam could cause confusion among shoppers. "When people see a product can be oven baked, they feel it should be, so it's often more difficult to convince them that it can be eaten hot as well as cold," said Lou Ellerton, consultant at branding agency The Value Engineers.
In terms of broadening its reach, altering consumer perceptions of the brand was its biggest challenge, Ellerton added, "something the launch of Spam Sticks was unlikely to change substantially", she said.
Spam Sticks will be advertised in a new multimedia campaign for the total brand kicking off this week, and including television advertising, sampling and social networking activity on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Spam Sticks, rolling out next month, are made from strips of chopped pork and ham coated in breadcrumb (rsp: £1.79 to £1.99/pack of 10). They are positioned as a ready-to-eat snack, or as part of a main meal.
The new format would help attract both new and lapsed consumers, said Spam producer Hormel Foods.
"We wanted to develop a versatile product that would appeal to a wider audience from kids, to students to professionals," said customer business manager Nicole Judd. "Recent research has shown a strong market for busy professionals and Spam Sticks offer both a convenient and satisfying option."
However, experts suggested the NPD for Spam could cause confusion among shoppers. "When people see a product can be oven baked, they feel it should be, so it's often more difficult to convince them that it can be eaten hot as well as cold," said Lou Ellerton, consultant at branding agency The Value Engineers.
In terms of broadening its reach, altering consumer perceptions of the brand was its biggest challenge, Ellerton added, "something the launch of Spam Sticks was unlikely to change substantially", she said.
Spam Sticks will be advertised in a new multimedia campaign for the total brand kicking off this week, and including television advertising, sampling and social networking activity on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
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