According to Stern, Chobani created awareness and drove trial by following a three steps process:

1. Start with influencers
2. Embrace social media
3. Sample the product

Influencers: Chobani partnered with dieticians, who embraced the all-natural, low fat, high protein product, to introduce it to the market.

Social Media: The brand started Facebook and twitter accounts to spread the word. As people embraced Chobani online, the brand created an Ambassador group that generated excitement and awareness for the brand. The brand also started the Real Love Stories campaign which encouraged consumers to share their Chobani love stories at chobani.com. The promotion also incorporated an online sweepstakes element which selected a weekly winner to receive a case of yogurt. In only six months, Chobani’s share rose +50%, from 8% to almost 13%.

Sample: Finally, as distribution, enthusiasm and interest in the brand grew, Chobani created the CHOmobile, which traveled the US distributing samples of yogurt.

Most notably, $5 Footlong challenged the conventional pricing wisdom that “99 cents is a better value than $1″. Tony explained how this “old” pricing strategy is at odds with how today’s consumers communicate. In today’s society, where consumers encounter over 5,000 advertising messages per day, simplicity is becoming the name of the game. This is true for pricing, too.   And $5 is cleaner and simpler to communicate, consume and share than $4.99.

The fully integrated promotion initially included TV advertising, print, in-store signage and social media. Ultimately, the program also garnered mentions on The Tonight Show, ESPN and TMZ and it gained the endorsement of Jimmy Fallon who created the Subs Across America. Subway was named 2011 Buzz leader for the second consecutive year according to YouGov’s brand index.

View Jimmy Fallon’s Subs Across America video here

One of our clients was looking to sample a new drink mix product inside packages of an established cracker brand with a similar target consumer.

The initial sampling plan called for sample tipping, which involves adhering samples to a backer card.  Those samples were then going to be hand inserted into the cracker boxes.

We recommended rethinking the promotion to feature overwrapped samples, which was significantly more cost-effective than sample tipping and would also enable the samples to be automatically inserted directly into the cracker package on the manufacturing line.

For the promotion, we automatically inserted 4 million drink mix samples into the cracker packages and, at the same time, applied a promotional label on-pack, promoting the FREE SAMPLE Inside.  Insight Promotions delivered a 99.5% hit rate for the client while the plant concurrently set new line speed records THREE times in five days while running the promotion!

Speed Matching can be integrated with the Insight Promotions inserter, when it is running perpendicular to the line. By monitoring both line position and line velocity, Speed Matching modifies the dispensing signal when the line begins to ramp up. Without this technology, any variation from the normal line rate can cause misses and packages without premiums. Utilizing Speed Matching technology with your in-pack promotions increases the hit rate and throughput while decreasing the carton damage and line stoppages that sometimes occur while running a promotion.

Watch Speed Matching in action. Click here>

Promotions can be a great way to mitigate the impact of a recall. And planning in advance for a recall-driven promotion can help your brand react quickly if one occurs in your category.

If your brand is recalled:

If your brand is recalled, retaining your loyal consumers and your share is a key concern. A compelling offer can leverage your equity and give consumers a reason to stay with your brand

• Promotional opportunities: High value on-pack coupons, digital offers

If your brand is in a category with a competitive recall:

Recalls can create consumer confusion, and an opportunistic promotion can help your brand avoid losses and potentially even gain share during a challenging time for the category.

• Promotional opportunities: On-pack promotions,  in-store signage

Key elements of recall-associated promotion advance planning include:

• Brainstorm things that could cause a recall in your category
• Use real world examples of past product recalls as stimulus for potential scenarios
• Examples: Spinach recall 2006, McDonald’s Shrek glasses recall 2010, Tylenol recall 1983, 2010 or 2011

• Develop promotional ideas that respond to the different consumer needs driven by the recall scenarios

• Cost out the rough costs for different promotions and identify necessary resources

• Develop rough timeline for approximate on-shelf and/or consumer activation timing

Eat ‘Em Like Junk Food!

The presentation by Bolthouse Farms CMO, Bryan Reese, was the talk of the show! He shared details about the fully integrated marketing campaign designed to showcase baby carrots as a desirable, appealing snack.

The Bolthouse campaign, “Eat ‘Em Like Junk Food” was a big departure from traditional produce marketing that focuses on healthy attributes. Instead the Bolthouse team set out to appeal to the savvy snacker and reached out to them with techniques similar to those used by junk food brands. The test campaign included fun snack-like packaging, special vending machines placed in high schools, billboards, the web and even an interactive game. The campaign resulted in a dramatic +12% growth in test stores.

Trends in E-Commerce

More than 50 million US households are buying online and the growth rate is expected to exceed 15-20% annually.  As this channel evolves, retailers and manufacturers will begin partnering to optimize share of availability, visibility, branding and loyalty according to D.L. Ryan Etailing Solutions.

Industry trends in e-commerce:

• Shift in trip type: consumers are now stocking up online
• This is leading to a reduction in off-line trips
• E-tailing will experience 5x growth rate of brick and mortar
• Stores won’t go away, but growth will decline
• Amazon sales represent 2x total e-tailing world
• 9% of US households are currently buying CPG online
• CPG companies need to quickly change how they engage shoppers

Fun Facts from the Conference

Groupon

• Over 50,000 Groupons are sold every day by 8am
• Coming soon: Groupon Now – time-sensitive, instantaneous offers based on users’ location. This will allow participating brands/retailers to segment by day part.

Mobile Commerce

• 79% of smartphone users use smartphones to shop
• 74% of consumers have made a purchase after doing research on their smartphone

We wanted to share some of the things that caught their attention.

Key Trend: Automated Assembly of Mixed Pallets

Because retailers are reluctant to stock full pallets of the same SKU these days, mixed pallets are becoming more prevalent.

In order to make production of mixed pallets easier, automated systems are now available. There were a number of them at the show, and they ranged from very basic systems to highly advanced systems that can actually adjust on the fly in order to ensure the best arrangement of randomly arriving products.

Hartness International, TOPS Engineering Corp. and Westfalia are three of many companies that exhibited mixed pallet capabilities at PACK Expo.

Innovation: Robotics with Vision Tracking

The Fanuc Robotics America Spider Robot with vision tracking was quite the show stopper! Many watched as the Fanuc Robot took 3 bottles of different colored candies, mixed them together and then separated each color back into its own bottle. This robot can be used for picking product off the line and orientating it before placing it in the appropriate package.

The ability to analyze two completely different variables, such as color and orientation, and act instantaneously based on  predetermined guidelines makes robotics with vision tracking an Insight Promotions top pick for innovation at the show!

To see the Fanuc robot in action, click here!

Innovation: LeanWrap Revolutionary Technology

Lantech displayed their innovative Leanwrap “no film break” technology at PACK Expo.

We loved watching their demo which showcased a pallet with a pitchfork, shovel and other sharp tools on the corners. As the pallet spun, the stretch wrap did not break; while there were a few small punctures through some of the tools, the film did not break.. To view the video, click here

Innovation: Cheer Pack® Pouch

The Cheer Pack® is a flexible pouch that features an easy-flow straw with a reclosable, screw-on top. Made by Cheer Pack North America, it can be used for a variety of products including baby food, fruit snacks, dairy, health and beauty products, etc.