Inside Bimbo's Omnichannel Play With Novamex's Jarritos
Bimbo Bakeries launched a 360-degree partnership with Novamex across multiple retailers last fall to reach Hispanic shoppers, Millennials and young families.
The national campaign positioned Bimbo’s Marinela and Sweet Baked Goods (SBGs) brands with Novamex's Jarritos sodas during Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs annually from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
Prior to the current partnership, Bimbo and Novamex had customer sales-led smaller joint promotions at regional strategic Hispanic accounts such as La Michoacana shops, says Nick Castillo, omnichannel marketing manager at Bimbo Bakeries USA.
"This partnership was built on a clear shopper insight — knowing we over-index with the same shoppers," says Kelly Roses, senior director of consumer experience and analytics, at Bimbo Bakeries USA.
The average basket size when both Bimbo and Novamex brands are in the basket more than doubles from $51 to $108, according to Circana data.
The brands enticed shoppers with a nationwide instant redeemable coupon of one free 12.5 ounce Jarritos with purchase of either a Marinela cookie box or Bimbo sweet baked goods multi-pack.
In Stores
At Walmart and Kroger, neck hangers showing all participating brands along with "Get a free Jarritos bottle" messaging appeared on Jarritos SKUs.
The brands shared dedicated endcaps along with co-branded four-sided displays and floorstands. The displays used product shots of all the brands next to "Celebrate a Fiesta of Flavors" messaging.
At H-E-B, the brands appeared side-by-side on endcaps under the retailer’s "Combo Loco" regularly featured promotion.
The goal of the in-store activations was to enhance visibility and drive shopper engagement, Castillo says.
Online
The program utilized retail media support from various organizations. There were off-site Chicory shoppable recipe ads through Walmart Connect. The brands’ products received placement through shoppable media inline with relevant Hispanic recipes, Castillo says.
At Kroger, there were targeted on-site ads in addition to Pinterest activity through Kroger Precision Marketing. California grocer Smart & Final had on-site ads for the program as well.
The overall retail media activity highlighted both manufacturers, except for ShopRite. At that retailer, only Bimbo appeared in on-site ads, Castillo says.
Posts on the Jarritos Facebook page also touted the national offer.
The Results
The program concluded with year-over-year increases in features and displays both nationally and at Walmart.
The national increase for the Bimbo SBGs and Marinela businesses were 19.6% and 11.3%, respectively. The Walmart increase for Bimbo SBGs was 66.4% while Marinela was 48.2%.
The retail media efforts at Walmart resulted in 25% new-to-brand buyers. The Chicory-specific ads through Walmart Connect had 32% new-to-brand buyers. Walmart also reported a return on ad spend of $10.31.
At Kroger, the brands saw a 28% lift in incremental new households acquired. The campaign had 38 million impressions total.
Over the course of the campaign, Jarritos had one of the top sales months of all time and the highest coupon redemption in the history of the brand, said Nick Dianni, channel marketing manager at Novamex.
"By partnering with Jarritos and offering a value incentive through an IRC, we delivered strong in-store execution supported by omnichannel activations, driving meaningful impressions, capturing new-to-brand buyers and conversion," Bimbo's Kelly Roses says.
Looking Ahead
The manufacturers plan to expand the partnership this fall during Hispanic Heritage Month. There will be a second instant redeemable coupon offer for a free Novamex 12.5 oz. beverage with purchase of either a Marinela or Entenmann's single-serve product.
The new offer will enable the partnership to enter the convenience channel, Castillo says.
