2024 OmniShopper Awards: Digital
DIGITAL: Digital Media Activation
(Non-Retail Media)
Campaign: Nestle: Your Holiday Helpers
Brands: Coffeemate, Nesquik, Nestle Toll House, Abuelita Stouffer’s, DiGiorno, Tombstone, La Lechera, Carnation, S. Pellegrino & Nido (Nestle)
Agency/Solution Providers: Breaktime Media,
VML and Merkle
The holiday season often brings a mix of anticipation, excitement and stress for those striving to host the perfect gathering. Nestle sought to sprinkle a little holiday magic and lighten the load for holiday shoppers with easy and convenient solutions that showcased Nestle’s portfolio as a one-stop shop for their mealtime and baking needs.
Nestle teamed up with VML, Merkle and Breaktime Media to create an integrated and festive campaign for Nestle brands, which included Coffeemate, Nesquik, Nestle Toll House, Abuelita Stouffer’s, DiGiorno, Tombstone, La Lechera, Carnation, S. Pellegrino and Nido. The experience started with a personalized quiz (“What Should You Bring to the Holiday Table?”) that recommended unique product bundles based on responses, with options tailored to those who were hosting or visiting family gatherings.
Consumers could dive into seasonal recipes featuring the brand’s products through a dynamic recipe filter that sorted options based on time needs and the type of activity. To facilitate purchases, an add-to-cart option allowed shoppers to add thoughtfully curated bundles directly to their cart on Walmart.com. A list of cheerful hosting tips further engaged and inspired shoppers with ideas for how Nestle products could help. Site visitors were encouraged to sign up to receive product offers and updates from Nestle.
The online experience saw great purchase intent with 87.5% of users clicking to add the Nestle bundles to cart, resulting in more than $1.3 million worth of products carted at Walmart.com. The dynamic quiz and tailored recipes further drove inspiration and trial, with completion rates above benchmarks.
Campaign: Fill. Roll. Bake: Pillsbury Crescent Rolls at Walmart
Brand: Pillsbury (General Mills)
Retail partner: Walmart
Agency/Solution Provider: Breaktime Media
Figuring out what to serve for weeknight dinners can be especially stressful for busy families. General Mills wanted to give Walmart shoppers ideas for easy and delicious meal solutions that highlighted the convenience, comfort and versatility of its Pillsbury crescent rolls.
General Mills collaborated with Breaktime Media to create an interactive digital commerce-focused experience designed to simplify the weeknight dinner dilemma by providing shoppers with a variety of engaging and informative content.
The journey began with a content engagement page that reminded shoppers of the simplicity of Pillsbury crescent rolls. All they had to do is “fill, roll and bake.” Visitors were then directed to a dynamic personality quiz (“Which Pillsbury Recipe Should You Try for Family Dinner Night?”) which served up recipe recommendations based on their responses. Whether people seeking something quick, sophisticated or somewhere in between, the quiz matched their unique needs and preferences with the perfect recipe.
Additional features supported the journey, including an add-to-cart feature that simplified the shopping and encouraged immediate action. A poll invited shoppers to vote on their favorite ways to bake with Pillsbury crescent rolls. Lastly, shoppers were directed to a video showcasing a recipe example of a chicken, bacon ranch-flavored Crescent Roll Bake and a referral click to explore more recipe ideas on Pillsbury.com, encouraging repeat visits and engagement.
The efforts clearly paid off. More than 63,000 users used the built-in add-to-cart feature in the Breaktime experience, which equates to a purchase intent of more than $331,000, and the campaign drove over $425,000 in incremental sales.
DIGITAL: Retail Media Activation
Campaign: Untold Beauty
Brands: Shea Moisture, Dove & Vaseline (Unilever)
Agency/Solution Providers: Arc Worldwide (primary), Walgreens Advertising Group (secondary)
Unilever’s “Untold Beauty” campaign began in 2022 to increase representation of multicultural shoppers in the beauty and personal care (BPC) category at Walgreens. The omnichannel campaign featuring the Shea Moisture, Vaseline and Dove brands showcased multicultural imagery accompanied by beauty narratives that had gone unheard.
In 2023, Unilever saw an opportunity to expand Untold Beauty to a wider audience through Walgreens’ retailer media network, while featuring additional products and a strengthened purpose. In a change from its previous influencer strategy, Unilever and Walgreens formed a partnership with The Moth, a New York-based non-profit organization that works within local communities to share uplifting stories through live “Slam” events. The idea was to meet shoppers where they were — on the streets, in Walgreens parking lots and in stores.
Highlights of these conversations were featured during the Moth Radio podcast hour, which aired through in-store audio at Walgreens stores, and at Slam events in Chicago, New York and Miami. Images captured throughout the events were displayed across a series of digital out-of-home ads, while activation in the retail media network provided the greatest reach and impact. Stories that stopped the scroll on Walgreens social platforms informed but also inspired shoppers to click through to the brand page on Walgreens.com.
Untold Beauty exceeded expectations with a 6.36% conversion rate and $21.29 directional ROAS, doubling and tripling respective benchmarks. The partners note the ultimate success was the meaningful impact of the program in the communities and lives of Walgreens shoppers.
Campaign: Haleon Walmart Back to School 2023
Brands: Advil, Benefiber, Flonase, Pronamel, Emergen-C, Excedrin & Robitussin (Haleon)
Retail partner: Walmart
Agency/Solution Provider: VML
Wellness is the unsung hero of smooth back-to-school transitions. With this single but powerful shopper insight, Haleon turned the season’s traditional focus on kids on its head with an emphasis on parental needs. The program leveraged digital tactics across Walmart Connect and third-party platforms (MiQ, Fandango) to encourage parents to seize the moment for some easy self-care solutions built around Haleon OTC brands Advil, Benefiber, Flonase, Pronamel, Emergen-C, Excedrin and Robitussin.
Programmatic MiQ display ads intercepted parents where they were conducting searches for their back-to-school needs online, in addition to Walmart Connect tactics including social posts and on/offsite banners. Digital media drove shoppers to a brand experience page headlined by Tamera Mowry on Walmart.com where parents were encouraged to stock up on Haleon products to feel their best this back-to-school season.
To expand reach and drive further consideration, the effort tapped into Walmart social commerce platform Shop Talk Live to use influencers who spoke about their Haleon health and wellness essentials and routine during back-to-school season. The campaign was rounded out by a rewards microsite through Fandango that offered financial relief for the purchase of Haleon products (e.g., spend $25, get a $10 reward).
Haleon saw an increase of 138,000 year-over-year households, while Haleon brand unit sales rose 7% and dollar sales 6% over the previous year. Walmart saw analgesics and oral care category growth, with a 4% increase in unit sales and 3% in dollar sales, and a 1% increase in unit sales and 11% in dollar sales, in those two categories, respectively.
DIGITAL: Mass Media Activation
Campaign: Kittenwise
Brands: Temptations, Sheba, Iams, Greenies & Nutro (Mars Petcare)
Agency/Solution Provider: Mars United Commerce
More than half (52%) of cat owners acquire their pet on impulse, leaving them unprepared for a lengthy list of responsibilities — everything from understanding the right choices for food, litter and supplies, as well as finding the proper training and socializing techniques. This was the thinking behind “Kittenwise,” a program designed to help consumers navigate their first year of pet ownership with education and products/savings from brands including Temptations, Sheba, Iams, Greenies and Nutro.
During a three-month activation, a dedicated national microsite provided educational content including articles, a kitten personality/product quiz, rebate rewards, a spin-to-win sweepstakes, product ratings and reviews, and an add-to-cart functionality to facilitate immediate purchase. Article topics included feeding during the first six months, adoption tips, kitten wellness, proper treatment, play time, the nutrition needed for healthy brain development, and stages of food transitioning. A quick quiz helped new parents find the products that best fit their specific needs. The spin-to-win sweepstakes offered chances to receive a free sample kit or treat toy.
Social influencer activity, along with rich mobile, digital display and mobile push ads intercepted kitten and parents and drove them to the microsite experience. The messaging and education elements were reinforced through a series of livestream shopping events conducted in collaboration with Walmart, Chewy and Amazon.
The program met or exceeded Mars Petcare’s business objectives, most notably by recording a 7.4% overall sales lift for participating brands with a corresponding 1.4% increase in brand share, and 117 million total consumer impressions.
DIGITAL: Mobile Activation
Campaign: Personalized Team Branding Ignited Tostitos Sales Among NFL Fans
Brand: Tostitos (PepsiCo/Frito-Lay)
Agency/Solution Provider: Aki Technologies, Media
by Inmar Intelligence
Tostitos wanted to increase chip and dip sales at Walmart by capitalizing on the excitement of the NFL season and delivering a personalized fan experience. The key was to go local. By testing the impact of team-specific creative versus generic NFL branding, Tostitos was able to measure the effectiveness of personalization in driving sales and ultimately tracked substantial growth in Tostitos sales.
Tostitos partnered with Aki Technologies to deliver a hyper-personalized campaign to position the brand as the ultimate game-day essential snack solution. Data-driven targeting using Aki’s Moments AI platform identified opportunities during the NFL season when fans were most receptive to snack cravings. This included a game day inspiration moment and snack craving moment to ensure precision targeting and maximum ad impact.
Dynamic ad creative featuring team-specific colors and logos was delivered to fans across various digital platforms. This hyper-personalized approach fostered a deeper connection with the brand. “Game Day Greatness” served as the campaign’s core theme, emphasizing Tostitos as the perfect companion for game-day gatherings. This theme was brought to life through dynamic visuals and compelling calls to action. Campaign performance was closely monitored to optimize ad delivery and creative messaging. A/B testing of creative elements and adjustments to targeting were implemented to maximize ROI.
The campaign generated $653K in incremental sales, representing a 7.2% sales lift. Notably, advertisements featuring team-specific branding outperformed generic NFL creative by a factor of two, underscoring the power of personalization and effectiveness of the strategy in driving consumer engagement and purchase behavior.
DIGITAL: Social Media Activation
Campaign: Coca-Cola K-Wave
Brands: Coca-Cola
Agency/Solution Provider: Smurfit Westrock
K-Wave is a new Coca-Cola limited-edition flavor designed to appeal to Gen Z through its love of K-pop music. K-Pop fans’ passion and enthusiasm for the genre tend to inspire FOMO (fear of missing out), so exclusivity and competitiveness are key drivers for this audience. They also tend to be collectors of K-Pop paraphernalia. Thus, these three attributes — exclusivity, competitiveness and collectability — informed Coca-Cola’s interactive, multi-tiered campaign for K-Wave.
The program kicked off with an early access to presale code to create a sense of exclusivity. A global Instagram campaign, including deliveries to social media influencers, launched the beverage alongside a new K-Wave-inspired K-Pop song. The striking packaging and free stickers delivered on the collectability factor that K-Pop fans crave, while unlocking unique experiences such as streaming a live K-Pop concert. By scanning a QR code, fans could insert themselves into the “Like Magic” music video alongside their idols, creating personalized cameos by embedding their voice, name and face into various segments of the video.
To build even more brand awareness and excitement, a contest through the Coca-Cola app offered a chance to win a trip to South Korea, as well as the sale of limited-edition K-Wave merch sold only at Coca-ColaStore.com.
This campaign succeeded in terms of both sell-through and social engagement. The K-Wave beverage completely sold out online. Even one of the K-Wave-themed merch items offered on Coca-Cola’s website sold out. JYP Entertainment’s official post of the “Like Magic” song had 7.5 million views and more than 18,000 enthusiastic comments.
