Danone Scales Breakfast Event to Multiple Retailers
Danone North America expanded its reach this year through a broad, breakfast-themed national program in tandem with retailer partnerships and activations.
The "Mornings Upgraded" campaign focused on driving basket size, encouraging cross-purchases between Danone brands and bringing in new households. The program ran Jan. 1 through Feb. 28.
Danone wanted to drive sales of six brands: Silk, International Delight, Oikos, Too Good, Stok and Light & Fit.
Breakfast remains a consistent meal occasion for shoppers who prioritize health and convenience, with more than 86% of breakfast occasions occurring at home, says Erin Anderson, senior director, omni-activation and e-commerce, Danone North America.
The addition of yogurt and plant-based milk alternatives to the basket has resulted in a 29% increase in basket size, while adding creamer led to a 42% increase.
"Our target audience for the breakfast scale event included purchasers of breakfast foods including plant-based milk, yogurt and creamer during their typical stock-up trips," Anderson says. "We specifically targeted Gen Z and Millennial shoppers who have an affinity for better for you products, especially as they start new habits for the new year."
Danone's "Mornings Upgraded" program required more than 10 months of advance work and planning. This lead time enabled Danone to coordinate with various stakeholders, establish retailer partnerships, produce promotional materials and set up measurement frameworks to track the campaign's performance effectively, Anderson says.
To extend the program's reach and drive stock-up trips, Danone launched a "Buy $15, Get $5" national promotion. Shoppers who submitted receipts via either a promotional web page or email received a $5 retailer gift card or $5 Virtual Visa prepaid card.
In Stores
Shelf talkers positioned next to Danone creamers and shelf labels with "Mornings Upgraded" messaging touted the promotion.
Custom display coolers adorned with creative from the program appeared in regional grocers such as Hy-Vee and ShopRite.
Other in-store collateral supporting the program included display headers, endcap placement, instant redeemable coupons, balloons (at Albertsons Cos. banners) and neck hangers across channels.
The Partners
The following companies helped bring Danone's "Mornings Upgraded" breakfast event to life:
- Acosta
- Chicory
- Cooler Management
- InMarket
- Snipp Interactive
Online
Danone worked with Instacart and various retail media networks to reach shoppers. The retailer media network partners included Walmart Connect, Kroger Precision Marketing, Target's Roundel, Albertsons Media Collective, and AD Retail Media.
Danone had gallery takeover ads on Walmart.com, and landing pages at Kroger, Target, Albertsons and Ahold Delhaize websites. On-site and off-site display ads were used throughout the campaign.
The marketing team partnered with a Danone dietitian to create custom cross-portfolio recipes for shoppers to use during their mornings.
Influencers also created breakfast solutions across brands and drove awareness of the promotion on Instagram accounts (such as @iheartpublix) and TikTok, Anderson says.
The Outcome
Danone was able to reach shoppers in-store through display and P-O-P materials as well as online through partnerships with retailer media networks.
Through digital media, the program delivered more than 332 million impressions, she adds.
"Breakfast is a key meal occasion, and by inspiring shoppers to upgrade their morning and highlighting the unique benefits of our portfolio, we were able to truly own the breakfast occasion," Anderson says.
