The recession might be crippling the auto industry but a cocooning trend among consumers over the winter fuelled soaring sales of chocolate, cereal, Kraft Dinner and video games. It’s also helping sales of wine, beer and spirits as consumers shy away from bars and restaurants and opt for take-home libations.

The success of trusted staple brands and products is due to savvy marketers who have creatively tweaked their messages for a spend-wary public.

"Some messages may resonate more than others right now," said Valerie Lemant, marketing director for crackers and salty snacks at Kraft Canada.

Recent spots for Delissio frozen pizza, for example, added a specific tag line to the end of the commercial message noting that it was less expensive than either carry-out or delivery pizza. The brand’s standard messaging focuses on its taste attributes: "It’s not delivery. It’s Delissio!"

As the recession hit hard last fall, General Mills resurrected its Hamburger Helper brand’s "Helping Hand" animated icon in ads by Cossette Communication-Marketing. Prior to the recession, the brand’s ads often focused on the convenience of the product, but the new ads showed the Helping Hand appearing alongside a mother tallying her household finances and staring at a calculator while a voiceover says "with milk, vegetables and ground beef, a dinner for four will cost $9.80. ...a complete meal your budget will love for under $10." Another spot shows the hand popping out of a couch that is laden with coins before cutting to a scene of a family of four enjoying a Hamburger Helper dinner. The commercials end with a closing graphic that reads:"Happy Family. Happy Budget."

Shifting ad strategy slightly can pay off in bad times. A review of the 1991 recession by advertising agency N. W. Ayer Inc. cited the growth in products that were able to successfully put a thrift-friendly spin on their marketing. Ads advised "A-1 Steak Sauce isn’t just for sirloin anymore" and could be used on hamburgers; the animated Michelin Man brand tire mascot changed his message to "surprisingly affordable" from the pre-recession "expensive but worth it." And Ziploc bag ads focused more on the importance of preserving leftovers properly than on its air-tight seal.

The messages can pay off as consumers shy away from restaurants and spend more at home. Sales of beer, wine and spirits rose 5.4% in the year ending February, 2008, to $6.8-billion, and leapt 2.3% from January to February alone, according to Statistics Canada. (That compares with a 1.6% rise in sales for the prior year period). While grocers Loblaw, Metro and Sobeys have all enjoyed increased sales volumes, meaning people are eating more meals at home, the stay-at-home trend also extends to entertainment: At video-game maker Nintendo Co. sales jumped 10% in the fiscal year ended March 31; rival Sony, meanwhile, predicts it will sell 13 million PlayStation3 gaming systems this year, a 30% jump over 2008.

Obvious evidence of anxious consumers can be seen in the sales of comfort food, most notably brands that have been on the market for decades and normally show stable but very slow growth.