Functional beverages may be all the rage as consumers seek healthier products, but taste and convenience are equally important, according to Danone, which recently launched a playful marketing campaign promoting the taste benefits of its plant-based beverages, including Silk and So Delicious.
The campaign, which kicked off last month with a star-studded, punny pop-up in New York City promoting Silk’s Vanilla Almondmilk, comes at a time when plant-based milk sales are slowing due to shifting consumer priorities.
According to data from Nielsen IQ released last summer, sales of plant-based milk declined for the first time in four years - dropping 5.2% in the 52 weeks ending June 29. The consumer and market research firm underscored the significance of this drop by noting it outpaced the overall milk category’s decline of 2.4% in the same period.
In this episode of FoodNavigator-USA’s Soup-To-Nuts Podcast, Kallie Goodwin, senior vice president of plant-based beverages at Danone North America, shares what is behind plant-based milk’s changing fortunes and how the company hopes to reinvigorate slowing sales in the category with a dynamic marketing campaign and product innovation.
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What is behind plant-based milk’s decline?
For many years, alternative milks were the posterchild for plant-based products’ potential with surging sales, increasing household penetration and retail shelf space and little of the backlash around nutrition that held back plant-based protein.
But that changed last year when plant-based milk sales and units suddenly declined. According to data from SPINS, plant-based milk dollar sales fell 5.2% to $2.85 billion in year ending July 14, and units fell 5.9% in the same period.
Goodwin attributed the reversal in part to across-the-board price hikes due to inflation that spurred many consumers to pull back on discretionary spending and seek foods and beverages that delivered the most nutritional bang for their buck.
Danone focuses first on taste
To counter this trend, Goodwin said Danone is taking a dual approach through marketing and product innovation and renovation that address the bifurcation of the market around taste and function.
On the marketing front, Danone is promoting the taste and sensorial benefits of its plant-based milks Silk and So Delicious, which Goodwin says more consumers prefer over dairy milk when they eat breakfast.
“Seven out of 10 dairy drinkers actually prefer Silk vanilla almond milk in their morning cereal. So, it doesn’t have to always be about the functional attrition. It can also just be about how easy it is to incorporate plant based food as part of your normal routine,” she said.
This stat became the foundation for Danone’s recently launched marketing campaign that promotes the flavor and convenience of its plant-based beverages as part of a larger push by the company to own the breakfast occasion.
Goodwin explains that the campaign kicked off in New York City with the light-hearted Cereal Liar pop-up that sought to call-out the 30% of consumers who said they prefer dairy over plant-based milk.
At the pop-up, Danone challenged consumers who said the preferred dairy milk to Silk on the cereal to take a polygraph. If they passed, they received a $50 gift card, if they failed - they were deemed a ‘cereal liar.’
Are pop-ups worth the expense and hassle?
Pop-ups, like the one Danone hosted in New York City, are becoming increasingly popular as a way for brands to cut through the clutter of a fragmented media landscape and connect directly with consumers. And while Goodwin characterized the Cereal Liar pop-up a success, with only 307 consumers attending one might wonder if the return on investment in this type of advertising is worth the it.
According to Goodwin, the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’
She explained that Silk was able to leverage the direct connection with consumers at the event and create significant viral and earned media content by reaching out to reporters and influencers.
Goodwin also notes that the pop-up was just the beginning and the company is investing in a much larger, farther reaching multi-media campaign targeting the breakfast occasion for its plant-based milk brands.
She explained the brand has created multiple pieces of content for online and the big screen as well social media channels all of which are focused on using Silk and its other plant-based products to win the breakfast occasion.
Innovation balances function and fun
Danone also will lean into innovation and renovation to increase the consumer appeal of its plant-based milks. For example, Goodwin noted, the company recently launched a more nutritional line of plant-based milk specifically for children.
She adds Danone will launch other nutrition-forward plant-based solution in the near future.
Ultimately, Goodwin said, the long-term success of any plant-based milk – or food and beverage brand more broadly – will hinge on a company’s ability to balance function and “fun.”
