Dempsters indulges consumers fantasies on Facebook

If you’ve ever wanted to star in your own steamy romance novel, Dempster’s is giving every Canadian with a Facebook account that opportunity as part of a new digital campaign to promote its recently-launched Zero Bread.

The campaign, developed by Dempster’s digital agency Cundari, carries the tagline “Dempster’s Zero Bread- it won’t just make you feel good, it’ll make you feel sexy.”

The initiative includes pre-roll, online banners, Facebook promoted posts and Google SEM. It all centres around a YouTube video called “Dempster’s Zero Bread: Zero Inhibitions” which asks “Have you ever dreamt of being the sexy star of your own romance novel? New Dempster’s Zero is going to make your fantasies come true.”(see video below)

Viewers can then click on embedded links in the video, which lead to a dedicated Facebook page. Users are then instructed to choose one of three racy covers, answer a few “About Me” questions, and select three Facebook friends to co-star in their novel.

Consumers can then download, save or share their personalized story on Facebook.

Set in a café and bakery (where Dempster’s bread happens to be heavily featured), the novel highlights the product in various scenarios.

A selection from the novel reads; “The sights and scents of Dempster’s Bakery were sending her into sensory overload. The utilitarian elegance of the stainless steel machinery was a visual contrast to the luscious aroma wafting from the hundreds of loaves of bread that were currently baking to golden perfection. The effect was comforting and sumptuous all at once.”

“Bread is not the highest interest category, so we’re always trying to add some life to it,” said Andrew Simon, chief creative officer at Cundari. “You can be silly and fun about it, but the idea that we were able to weave the product into the story makes it a win-win.”

Although the plot is always the same, depending on the answers submitted, the narrative is slightly tweaked to reflect the user’s personality. The novel has 13 chapters and is nearly 120 pages in length. Cundari wrote the outline of the story and then worked collaboratively with a writer who specializes in romance novels to complete it, Simon said.

Cundari, which works in collaboration with Dempster’s creative agency JWT, continued the “Zero Bread will make you feel sexy” concept launched in JWT’s recent TV spot “I’m Too Sexy” which depicts a female security guard eating Zero Bread and lip-synching the lyrics to Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.”

Dempster’s Zero, which contains no added fat or sugar, hit the market mid-January, and Cundari launched its campaign on Jan. 21. It will run until the end of February.

This article originally appeared in Marketing magazine.