2023 OmniShopper Awards: Digital
Digital: Digital Media Activation
(Non-Retail Media)
Campaign: Mondelez Targets Summer Snacking Success
Brand: Mondelez International
Retail Partner: Ahold Delhaize
Agency/Solution Provider: Quotient
Prior to the summer season, Mondelez International was facing declining market share at Ahold Delhaize stores in two of its core categories (cookies and crackers) and was looking to drive sales by increasing household penetration and purchase frequency. The solution came in the form of a data-driven omnichannel campaign that engaged a specific audience segment based on a number of geographic and behavioral characteristics.
As part of this campaign’s programmatic DOOH strategy, Mondelez leveraged geofencing capabilities to activate screens within a 5-mile radius of Ahold locations. Creative appeared on those screens when target shoppers were physically nearby. In addition, the campaign targeted shoppers who had previously purchased Ritz, Oreo, Triscuit, Wheat Thins or Chips Ahoy products at Ahold stores.
The programmatic DOOH campaign used dynamic content, which co-branded the ads with the nearest retailer’s logo and activated new creative in response to near real-time weather triggers for sunny or rainy days. For example, on a rainy day, the creative would feature a contextual weather design paired with the perfect Mondelez snack.
DOOH creative also included repurposed social influencer content. Mondelez hand-picked four diverse, family-oriented micro-influencers based in the same Ahold markets who created custom content corresponding with a variety of summer scenarios, including summer activities paired with Mondelez snacks. The creative featured QR codes that linked to landing pages and a mobile offer that drove a further sales lift.
The campaign achieved more than 30 million impressions across all media channels. Category units grew 2.4% and portfolio units grew 5.9% compared to the prior period. Furthermore, household penetration among Ahold families increased 2.7% and portfolio trips increased 3.7%.
Campaign: Sour Patch Kids Cherry Bomb
Brand: Sour Patch Kids (Mondelez International)
Retail Partner: 7-Eleven
Agency/Solution Provider: Phoenix Creative Co.
To grow sales of its “explosively flavorful” Sour Patch Kids cherry candies at 7-Eleven stores, Mondelez International developed an omnichannel campaign to win over Millennial and Gen Z shoppers. These on-the-go snackers are usually on their phones, they love music and are always on the lookout for fun new experiences.
Social influencers drove awareness for the “Cherry Bomb” program while streaming radio spots with popular celebrity talk show host Mario Lopez created excitement among his fan base, including multicultural shoppers. Digital activations included geo-targeted animated mobile banner units and a high-impact experiential product poll. Campaign creative was designed to reflect the “sweet-then-sour” mischief of the brand, featuring an image of one of the Sour Patch Kids characters carrying either a cherry or a cherry bomb.
In stores, a basket-building, 2-for-$5 promotion motivated purchases, while a national “Sour Summer is Over” deal helped deplete final remaining inventory to minimize waste. The program caught shopper attention in-store with custom displays filled with a Sour Patch Kids cherry 8-ounce bag and bursting with vibrant graphics.
Exceeding expectations, non-chocolate-candy category dollar sales were up 20.6% during the program. The program also brought in many new shoppers, including 53% of shoppers new to the store or the non-chocolate candy category. The program brought in $3.2 million in incremental sales with 10,100 fully stocked displays and 58,000 incremental cases sold.
Digital: Retail Media Activation
Campaign: Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook Canada Retailer Support Program
Brands: Lenovo, Google, Qualcomm
Retail Partners: Staples, Best Buy
Agency/Solution Provider: Gen.video
Lenovo needed to drive purchase intent and favorability for its new IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook. Critical to its success was a successful positioning of the laptop as an ideal lightweight option for travelers that is also powerful enough for tech enthusiasts.
An influencer campaign with paid media support was co-funded by Google and Qualcomm, and deployed through the retail media platforms of Staples and Best Buy in Canada. Lenovo chose influencers in the travel, technology and student vlog spaces who could organically reach consumers in each of those verticals. The multi-platform approach allowed the brand to tap into various creator archetypes and develop messaging themes to support both priorities across the travel/lifestyle influencers and traditional tech and student influencers.
Lenovo utilized gen.video technology to create and measure shoppable landing pages for multiple retailer websites. On these pages, the brand provided options to purchase the product on Best Buy or Staples to not only measure consumer retailer preference, but also to build retargeting segments using pixels that were implemented from both Meta and TikTok.
Lenovo ran an organic brand lift study, as well as a paid lift study on Meta and TikTok, to learn more about which asset types and optimizations performed the best in terms of driving down-funnel traffic, as well as brand lift.
Lenovo achieved an impressive lift of 600% over goal during the campaign window. For Best Buy, it observed a 10% lift in unit sales and $58,000 in incremental revenue. For Staples, it observed a 92% lift in unit sales and $148,000 in incremental revenue. Additionally, the brand lift study found an increase of 16 points in favorability and 20 points in familiarity.
Digital: Mass Media Activation
Campaign: The Ultimate Torture Test
Brand: Cascade (Procter & Gamble)
Retail Partners: Amazon, Target, Walmart, Instacart
Agency/Solution Providers: Grey, Chase Design
Procter & Gamble (P&G) was looking to build awareness for Cascade’s first product innovation in 10 years: Cascade Platinum Plus. The brand needed to convince loyal Cascade consumers to trade up to the premium product while persuading skeptical non-users that Platinum Plus could transform their entire dishwashing routine.
Cascade dared consumers to “dish differently” by creating a campaign built around “the ultimate torture test” — complete with cringeworthy demos involving sticky scenarios for removing baked-on grease and grime from pots and pans that were shocking yet intriguing enough to compel shoppers to take the test themselves.
To support the early e-commerce launch of Cascade Platinum Plus, the brand disrupted dish detergent shoppers online with display ads, sponsored content and online videos. From bold images of blackened sauté pans to video demos that brought the Ultimate Torture Test to life from an authentic first-person perspective, Cascade’s message to shoppers was clear: If Cascade Platinum Plus can clean this, it can clean anything — without a pre-rinse.
Cascade developed a brand store online at Amazon, Target, Walmart and Instacart that prioritized efforts to drive shoppers to the point of purchase. In addition, DOOH ads captured attention to build awareness in key markets throughout the country.
Based on the strength of the program, Platinum Plus became the fastest digital new item ramp-up in P&G home care history, with sales outpacing Q1 goals by 15%. The campaign creative was deemed so effective that it was extended into more than 160 OOH locations.
Digital: Mobile Activation
Campaign: Snickers NFL Rookie Mistake of the Year
Brand: Snickers (Mars)
Retail Partners: Kroger, Albertsons
Agency/Solution Provider: The Mars Agency
Mars’ Snickers brand leveraged its status as an NFL sponsor to conduct a “Rookie Mistake of the Year” campaign in 2021. The brand repeated the program in 2022, encouraging fans to share their own personal “Rookie Mistake” for a chance to win tickets to the Super Bowl. But this time, Snickers wanted to go bigger and better, ensuring stronger engagement with football fans throughout the entire NFL season.
For the regular NFL season, Snickers created a campaign anchored by an entertaining augmented reality experience that leveraged NFL players to drive memorable interaction with consumers. Borrowing on nostalgia for the classic
Magic 8 Ball toy, fans were encouraged to run a questionable decision by Buffalo Bills receiver Stefon Diggs through the Rookie Mistake “Magic Football.” Diggs responded and encouraged participants to enter the sweepstakes for Super Bowl tickets directly from the experience.
To amplify the program, Snickers employed a variety of ads across radio, CTV, gas station networks and online. It also created influencer kits with video reels and stories linking to a “Where to Buy” page, as well as in-store shelf talkers in Kroger and Albertsons stores.
Snickers enjoyed a healthy 10.6% sales lift from the regular-season activity and a 9.1% increase during the Super Bowl period (late January through February). Partnering retailers experienced category growth of 11.1% and 8.6% in those periods, respectively. The effort delivered 85.5 million total impressions across all activations. Nearly 21,000 consumers visited the AR experience, with one in five entering the sweeps. Average dwell time was 1:43, more than triple the amount of time needed to submit an entry.
Campaign: Nature Valley ReTok Shop
Brand: Nature Valley (General Mills)
Agency/Solution Provider: Mindshare
General Mills’ Nature Valley leads the granola bars category, but has been losing share to competitors who have a better grip on younger families and outdoor enthusiasts. The brand sought to break through with an activation during the back-to-school season that focused on the most important social issue for their target audience: preserving the planet for their kids.
Today’s busy young parents are often overwhelmed with the complexity of sustainable living. Many do not know where to start or don’t have the time to research, and few end up making meaningful changes. Thus, Nature Valley launched #ReTokForNature to enable simple and fun ways for families to give back to nature while checking off their back-to-school lists.
In partnership with TikTok, Nature Valley built the first-of-its-kind shop to reward sustainable behavior by “hacking” the simple hashtag as a mechanism for good. Families who shared a sustainable act using #ReTokForNature received a 1:1 promo code that unlocked access to free, exclusive goods including Nature Valley bars and branded gear, as well as sustainable must-have essentials like backpacks and water bottles from L.L. Bean, Park’s Project and Stasher.
Additional exposure for the program came through CTV, with streamers invited to shop the TikTok store live from their remotes, and an Amazon audio campaign.
A total of 2.1 million consumers were inspired to join the #ReTokforNature movement, sharing more than 6 million pieces of original content and sustainable inspiration on the platform, nearly four times the program’s benchmark. The brand enjoyed double-digit lift across all key attributes with parents, notably up 14 points in both “cares about nature” and “rewards sustainable actions.” The program generated more than $1.6 million in incremental sales and 11% in sales from net-new buyers.
Digital: Social Media Activation
Campaign: H-E-B A Day in the Life of Demarcus Ware
Brands: Dove Men+Care, Suave Men, Degree (Unilever)
Retail Partner: H-E-B
Agency/Solution Provider: Arc Worldwide
Unilever had to pass key tests in order to boost sales of its men’s grooming products at H-E-B stores. H-E-B shoppers are passionately Texan and want to see their pride in the Lone Star State reflected in their daily lives. They are also heavily emotionally invested in football. But since they did not naturally associate football culture with personal care, Unilever’s new social platform needed to make that connection relevant.
Enter Dallas Cowboys legend Demarcus Ware. The former All-Pro linebacker was uniquely suited to be the voice of the H-E-B social program. Not only was he widely recognized and associated with Texas football, but he was also highly relatable and had a wide-ranging fan base that included almost 1 million followers on Instagram.
Unilever created an original “day in the life” series with Demarcus as host, delivering his authentic take on his personal care routines through videos on his Instagram page. This honest, engaging and educational content sparked consideration for Dove Men, Suave and Degree products, and made it easier for shoppers to see a genuine connection between their favorite sport and the category.
Ware took fans through his “Saturday Football Fandom” routine in six stages: kickoff, morning workout and prep, post-workout shower routine, unpacking from H-E-B, game-day prep/traditions and fan-day wrap-up. Organic stories had a call-to-action link to shop the H-E-B promo (buy $12, save $4), and two stories were pushed via paid social amplification.
As a result, fans stepped up their personal care game in a big way. Sales of Unilever’s men’s personal care brands increased by 27.7% in-store and 35.8% online during the campaign, which performed three times better than industry average and reached 1.2 million consumers.