VIDEO FOR THE FOOD NETWORK + CBC

Successful video pitch for TV show Recipe to Riches

Above: Full MEGA MINCEMEAT video on Vimeo

This was no ordinary mincemeat—it had broken free of Christmas, and was coming for you.

Overview

My role: Art Director and Designer
Industry: Film and Television
Duration: 2 weeks

THE CLIENT

Karen Patrick wanted to submit her vegan mincemeat recipe to Recipe to Riches—a Canada-wide recipe competition held by The Food Network (a television network in the US and Canada) and CBC (Canada’s national broadcaster). An experienced amateur cook—and someone who had no video editing or marketing experience—Karen hired me to create a compelling pitch.

MY ROLES + RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Concept developer
  • Designer
  • Editor
  • Copywriter
  • Set decorator
  • Off-body stylist

OUTPUTS

  • 1 pitch video (1 minute long)
  • 1 logo and mini brand identity
  • 3 packaging designs

TOOLS I USED

  • Adobe Premiere Pro
  • DSLR camera and lighting
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Repurposed condiment containers
  • Printer paper and cardboard
  • Various props and decor items

Above: Stills from MEGA Mincemeat video

Phase 1: discovery

CONTEXT AND RESEARCH

In order to enter the Recipe to Riches competition, applicants were required to submit a short video pitch that embodied a unique and delicious recipe that they created. Successful applicants would appear on the Recipe to Riches TV show, have a chance to win $250,000 and have their recipe manufactured and sold via President’s Choice (a national grocery chain in Canada).

In my initial research, I learned that mincemeat (in its modern form) is a dessert food typically served during the Christmas season in tarts and pies. Traditionally containing fruit, nuts, spices and beef suet or butter, mincemeat was not a vegan-friendly food. I also learned that—like its seasonal comrade fruit cake—mincemeat was divisive: some loved it, others hated it. Packaging design for mincemeat I saw on the grocery store shelves was pretty uninspiring: it was obvious that companies were catering to consumers who already knew about it and loved it. A key finding in my research was that there was no existing vegan mincemeat on the market in Canada.

Central questions I asked myself at this stage were:

  1. How can we pitch an under-appreciated and traditional food to an audience who might not have even considered eating it?
  2. How can we break mincemeat out of its ‘Christmas only’ reputation?
  3. How can we make this pitch stand out from thousands of other pitches?

Above: Examples of existing mincemeat packaging and typical uses of mincemeat in baking

Phase 2: research + define

As I delved deeper and researched previous seasons of Recipes to Riches and its applicant pitch videos (as well as other food-related unscripted TV shows), I noticed that the vast majority—if not all—applicant videos showed a person making a recipe, and talking through their process. Few showed any branding for their recipe in their pitches. I saw this already established pitch format as an incredible opportunity to morph the expected pitch narrative and help Karen’s application stand out.

Not only was the recipe delicious, but it was predatory. It could appear anywhere—not just in tarts, but on ice cream, in yoghurt…and more.

Above: Still from MEGA Mincemeat video

Phase 3: design + ideation

Based on my research, I suggested that we give the vegan mincemeat recipe an unexpected persona—a mischievously villainous one. Not only was the recipe delicious (and made from nutritious ingredients), but it was predatory. It was no longer a passive and ‘boring’ holiday-only dessert—it could appear anywhere. Nothing was safe from vegan mincemeat: tarts, ice cream, yoghurt…and more. I leaned in to mincemeat’s ‘unappealing’ look instead of presenting it in pretty dessert situations to help enhance its character. This is when I came up with the name MEGA MINCEMEAT.

  1. I sourced a rollicking 1960s song for the pitch video—this helped convey MEGA MINCEMEAT’s marauding persona, and was also a nod to the traditional and nostalgic aspect of the dessert
  2. I designed 4 versions of the Mega Mincemeat logo
  3. I created storyboards for the video
  4. I wrote copy for the video
  5. I mocked up 5 Mega Mincemeat product packaging possibilities
  6. I sourced props, a camera, and lighting
  7. I filmed and edited the video

Above: Mega Mincemeat packaging and branding

Phase 4: delivery and implementation

  1. Made final client changes to the video
  2. Finalised the Mega Mincemeat logo
  3. Made small changes to the Mega Mincemeat packaging I created
  4. Uploaded the video to Vimeo, and sent in the full Recipes to Riches application

Results

  • A successful pitch! The video and application were shortlisted, and Karen got a call from the show’s producers to pitch the recipe in person
  • A brand identity that the client could use in future promotions

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

If I’d had more time, I would have loved to explore more food packaging options, and shortened the copy in the video by about 15% (to make it a bit more concise).

WHAT WAS LEARNED?

I (re)learned how rewarding it is to do thorough research—by dissecting other applicant videos, and learning more about the context of unscripted TV, I was able to identify a strong and unique pitch approach.