OK students, everyone have a seat. Let’s open this discussion with a question.
In our re-branding exercise, which product would you rather work with?

1, the Yugo
2, United States foreign policy
3, ‘Hot pockets’

What does the slogan ‘Irresistibly Hot’ tell you about the product?

A, warning! you’ll probably burn your mouth
B, they don’t want you to know what the ingredients are
C, if you use the words ‘irresistible’ and ‘hot’ in the slogan, what are you selling?

Now quick…..What’s the first impression that comes into your mind when I actually say ‘Hot Pockets?’

All right, sorry I gave you that image. You probably thought of a most unpalatable food product that needs much better ‘word of mouth’.

Good news. 1,122,358 people ‘like’ the Hot Pockets Facebook page. Bad news. 1,100,000 of them ‘like’ anything and everything.

Question: If you discovered a ‘Hot Pocket’ on the freezer shelf of a college dorm mini-fridge after you had consumed mass quantities of beer and the 24/7 convenience store was closed, would you be compelled to eat it or go on a hunger strike?

If Nestlé, who owns the Hot Pockets brand, can claim it is the world’s leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company, it better do something fast!

What exactly is a ‘hot pocket?’ A laugh line in a comedy club!

Enter; the marketing machinery.
The tag line of their new TV commercial is ‘Better taste, Better Quality, Guaranteed.’ In other words ‘It’s not as bad as the first batch.’

“Our fans, namely millennial consumers, those about 21 to 30 years of age, have high food IQs, high expectations and no discretionary income.” These are people who are looking for work, still live at home and in blind taste tests, three out of five would rather eat food.

Speaking of HP consumers, brand director Daniel Jhung also said “because they expect more, we gave it to them. 90% of Hot Pockets eaters preferred them over the Asian staple ‘seahorse on a stick’.”

In the words of a press release, new Hot Pockets contain “real cheese.” That’s right, quotation marks!