“Jimmy Dean/Walmart Shine Your Way”
Client: Tyson Foods
Agency: IN Connected Marketing
The Walmart breakfast foods category has struggled to keep up with the tremendous growth it recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic. In late 2022, Tyson Foods’ Jimmy Dean sausage brand was in the midst of a steady sales decline at Walmart when it embarked on a new, months-long campaign with the Walmart Connect retail media network to help reverse the slide.
Based on its research, Jimmy Dean uncovered that the general breakfast eater has an emotional connection to the meal that influences their habits and purchases. Notably, it found that 91% of Walmart breakfast eaters fall into four specific need states, which it labeled Healthy, Routine, Social and Indulgent. These four segments became the foundation for distinct protein breakfast targets and customized ad messages on Walmart Connect.
“The yellow and red of the Jimmy Dean brand are instantly recognizable, but we needed to go beyond brand recognition,” says Cheyanne Woods, director of commerce marketing at Tyson Foods. “Our challenge was to make sure the right consumers discovered these solutions to correlate with their needs. Our tactics came to life through extremely engaging headlines and aesthetics, crafted by our award-winning creative team.”
While most Walmart shoppers regularly eat breakfast, their need states vary depending on what motivates them to eat breakfast during different timeframes throughout the year. Thus, Jimmy Dean set out to identify and overlay every message, piece of content, delivery timing and target to ensure it was optimally meeting those needs.
The resulting Shine Your Way campaign used shopper behavior data to inform which pathways within the retail media network would resonate best with each need state. The communication strategies were individualized to each piece of content to hyper-target the shopper that related most to a specific SKU. The segments and associated themes were broken down as follows:
Mornings Together: New Year, New You — Routine and Healthy
Something to Brunch On: Spring Celebrations — Social and Indulgent
Spark Summer with Breakfast: Summer Meal Solutions — Indulgent, Social and Routine
Given the lengthy span of the campaign, Jimmy Dean needed to remain agile in responding to changing conditions. Throughout the activation in 2023, the brand team observed changes in how shoppers were approaching breakfast purchases and navigating through the Walmart Connect platform, and used real-time data to adjust campaign strategy accordingly.
“We faced numerous challenges, including competitive launches, new SKUs from rivals and private labels, and the widespread impact of inflation,” notes Woods. “Although the campaign ran for a longer duration, we assessed in smaller periods to correlate with seasonality to ensure we had a flexible approach to our market strategy. We adapted to each opportunity in real time, ensuring our actions were timely and effective. This includes optimization of channels, spend thresholds, communication and targeting.”
She added that the “flexibility to pivot at every critical juncture” enhanced velocity and drove impressive results for the duration of the Shine Your Way campaign.
“We’ve built upon our achievements by addressing gaps, capturing more market share and driving incremental growth,” says Woods. “Our relentless pursuit of excellence ensures we stay ahead, delivering impressive results and solidifying our position in the market. Our goal is to continue to optimize in partnership with Walmart Connect, building off our previous learnings and gain more in-depth personalization for incremental growth.”