Donnie Smith often talks about Tyson Foods needing to be No. 1 in the right categories.
The Tyson chief executive hasn't been shy about talking up Jimmy Dean's leadership in the breakfast-protein category, which has expanded even as frozen-food sales have declined.
And he's apparently not yet satisfied with the brand's reach. Jimmy Dean, the newly acquired Tyson brand, is expanding into lunch, dinner and low-calorie offerings -- some of which don't contain meat.
The company announced Monday that it was starting a marketing campaign to advertise the frozen foods featuring the sun character that has appeared in past Jimmy Dean commercials.
"After all, the sun shines well beyond breakfast time," said Eric Schwartz, group vice president and general manager for the Jimmy Dean brand, in a statement.
The foods were originally announced in late June. In a news release from June 30, Schwartz said he believed that Jimmy Dean could reinvigorate lackluster frozen-food sales by drawing on the brand's breakfast expertise and focusing on flavorful food.
But the campaign is also a bit of a balancing act.
Tyson wants Jimmy Dean, a brand consumers associate with breakfast, to become relevant throughout more of the day -- without diminishing the success of its core breakfast offerings.
Jimmy Dean is No. 1 in breakfast sausage and frozen protein breakfast, according to IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. It is the namesake is the late country singer Jimmy Dean who started the Jimmy Dean Meat Co. with his brother in 1969.
"Using the brand gives instant recognition to their product, but the downside, of course, is that it always dilutes your brand name," said David Gilliam, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Still, he said, Jimmy Dean is probably on fairly safe ground with frozen foods. Making a breakfast cereal would be another story, he said.
But that's not the only line marketers want Jimmy Dean to walk. Jimmy Dean now has "Delights" offerings, which contain 300 or fewer calories.
A new commercial for the line shows two women eating salads in a food court. The sun character approaches with a Jimmy Dean branded turkey bowl and sandwiches. The women ditch their salads for the offerings.
"It's not just for breakfast anymore," says a narrator to close the commercial.
Martin Thoma, a principal at Little Rock-based Thoma Thoma, a brand leadership firm, and author of Branding Like the Big Boys, said the key to consumer acceptance is to expand the Jimmy Dean envelope to include the new products.
"You gotta make sure that the brand image, reputation and the attitude are sufficiently broad and relevant to encompass something that's way different than what Jimmy Dean is selling," he said. "Anything is possible. You have to work at it and you have to be clear with your customers about what the values are."
Tyson's new offerings will place the company in more direct competition with Nestle, which owns Lean Cuisine, Hot Pockets, Stouffer's and DiGiorno, among other frozen-food brands.
Tyson became the No. 2 frozen-food player, with $3.7 billion in annual sales, after its acquisition of Hillshire Brands, according to an investor report. Nestle is the leader, with $7.2 billion in sales.
Being No. 1 in frozen foods would be a tough climb for Tyson. Gilliam said that's probably not the point since frozen-food sales have been declining, however.
"They face some real lifestyle and demographic problems. You can't overcome them by making a better-tasting sandwich," Gilliam said. "They're actually diving into a declining market. That should show you that their available set of opportunities is not all that great. It does makes sense for the No. 2 player to take something out of the No. 1 player, however."
Business on 09/10/2014