the brief
Duke’s is a 100-year-old Southern icon with deep loyalty in its core markets and limited awareness everywhere else. In a category dominated by national giants with massive media budgets, competing on price wasn’t an option. The path forward had to run through desirability, not deals.
the work
The Secret to Great Food stopped positioning Duke’s as a condiment and started positioning it as a critical ingredient—moving the brand out of the price conversation entirely. Over a ten-year relationship, Elevation built the brand strategy, visual system, and a recipe-driven content engine that ran across paid media, social, retail, and shopper marketing. Southern heritage anchored core markets while chef collaborations and tasting events built credibility in expansion markets. Expansion markets saw sales climb as much as 400% in the first three months, and unaided awareness passed 60% within a year. Duke’s became the third-largest mayonnaise brand in the country—posting 7% average annual growth while the category declined 10%.