Ocean Spray’s Secret Sauce to Win Gen Z: Absurdism and Playful Grannies

An older woman wearing a blazer tiptoes into an office holiday party with a mischievous glint in her eye. This party is dull, but it’s about to liven up, thanks to the secret weapon hidden in her purse: a bottle of Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail.   

When no one is looking, the woman pours cranberry juice into the punch bowl. One sip is enough to make the bored attendees sway and spin uncontrollably, until the party reaches a fever pitch.  

The outlandish scene is part of Ocean Spray’s holiday campaign, “Power Your Party,” and the second chapter in its push to revamp the brand’s dusty image and reach younger consumers. 

This latest ad, created by the agency Orchard and directed by Jeff Low, is a companion piece to last year’s campaign, titled “Power Your Holiday” but referred to as “Jiggle.” As in “Jiggle,” an Ocean Spray product turns a holiday gathering upside down and triggers an explosion of wild movement from the guests. 

The message in both spots is clear: Cranberry is not just the forgettable sidekick in a meal but the star of the show. 

Dusting off a cupboard staple

Starting last year, Ocean Spray took a new creative approach and replaced its long-running “Two guys and a Bog” campaign, in which a pair of farmers stand in a cranberry bog. 

Though those commercials were familiar and the 90-year-old brand was a household name, Ocean Spray wanted to ensure it had multigenerational appeal. 

With Orchard, the business developed a different strategy for its advertising: “How do we transform boring to fun?” said Monisha Dabek, the brand’s senior vp and chief commercial officer. “And how do we execute that in a way that’s unexpected for Ocean Spray?” 

Its 2022 ad celebrated Ocean Spray’s original product: jellied cranberry sauce. Although cranberry sauce has long been a Thanksgiving staple, it’s not exactly the dish that feasters reach for first. 

But in “Jiggle,” a Thanksgiving dinner starts out quiet and awkward—until the cranberry sauce arrives on the table. The guests become entranced by the jelly and begin to mirror its wobble. Soon, the entire table is overcome by erratic convulsions, ensuring a holiday that the family won’t soon forget.

Following the “Jiggle” campaign, Ocean Spray saw a “significant increase” in consideration for the brand, according to Dabek. Overall, the ad partly contributed to a 27% year-over-year increase in jellied cranberry sauce sales and a sales lift across its entire portfolio of products between October and December last year.

Cranberry’s Super Bowl moment

For this next chapter, Ocean Spray shifted the spotlight to the second oldest but largest product in its portfolio, Cranberry Juice Cocktail, which garners about $1 billion in sales globally. Craisins (dried cranberries) are its second-biggest product, followed by the sauce, which is more seasonal. 

The sister spot to “Jiggle” steps away from Thanksgiving to subvert holiday parties more widely. The holiday season between October and December is Ocean Spray’s “Super Bowl,” when the most amount of its products are sold, said Dabek. Beyond the jellied sauce at Thanksgiving, the cranberry juice is a popular mixer for cocktails. 

“Power Your Party” shares the absurdist humor employed in “Jiggle,” but has a more cohesive narrative and a main character: the grandmother who spikes the punch bowl. 

The actress who played her, named Deb, “has multigenerational appeal,” Dabek observed. 

Ocean Spray will air both “Jiggle” and the new ad on TV in November, and then run only the 2023 spot throughout December. 

But the holiday campaign is social-first, since between 50-80% of Ocean Spray’s annual marketing spend is allocated to digital, social and non-linear TV, said Dabek. 

In November, the brand will kick off a social activation called “Team Canned or Team Homemade,” which will enlist “granfluencers” (senior influencers) to create content with its products. The influencers Grandma Droniak and Cooking with Lynja will represent each team. Ocean Spray found that the audience demographics for the granfluencers leaned more towards younger millennials and Gen Z. 

“We’re owning grannies,” said Orchard chief creative officer David Kolbusz. 

The brand also has ambitions beyond the holiday season. Dabek said Ocean Spray plans to create different executions between January and August under the same strategy, which will position cranberries as a year-round party starter.  

CREDITS:

Agency: Orchard Creative
Chief Strategy Officer: Laura Janness
Chief Executive Officer: Barney Robinson
Chief Creative Officer: David Kolbusz
Executive Creative Director: Jimm Lasser
Creative Director: Heather Larimer
Head of Strategy: Sarah Garman
Head of Production: Jenn Pennington
Senior Producer: Julie Jean-Baptiste
Senior Copywriter: Christine Taffe
Art Director: Dohyun Lee
Account Director: Lucie Kittel
Account Supervisor: Ariel Jagaselvan
Director: Jeff Low                                                                                   
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks                                                         
Executive Producer: Holly Vega
Line Producer: Elisabeth Bottomley        
DP: Joao Padua
Production Designer: Francois Jordaan
Production Design Assistant: Will Stremilov
Props Master: Allen Pavela
Liquids Specialist: Forbes / LairdFX
Wardrobe Stylist: Lea-Anne Baxter
Food Stylist: Nicole Young                                       
Editorial/Post-production: Arcade Edit                  
EP/Partner: Sila Soyer                                               
Post Producer: Ellen Lavery                                                                  
Editor: Jeff Ferruzzo                                                                 
Assistant Editor: Sam Barden                                                               
Flame Artist: Tristian Wake                                                                   
Color:  Fergus McCall/Rare Medium                                    
Music:  Mack Goudy Jr.                                                          
Sound Design/mix: Mikayla Peterson/ Barking Owl