Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies have had some of the most iconic advertisements of all time (think: the Oscar Mayer jingle, Dos Equis’ “The Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign, and Dove’s body positivity campaigns). However, in more recent years, CPG companies have struggled to make an impact in the digital sphere due to changes in their industry. This can be attributed to a few reasons, but as trends shift and digital capabilities advance, these companies are realizing the benefits of shifting ad spending toward digital advertisements and, more specifically, programmatic advertising.
Changes in the CPG Industry
As more companies turn to digital advertising, in particular, programmatic advertising, to increase brand awareness, sales, and consumer loyalty, the CPG industry has remained a step behind. This isn’t due to a lack of effort, but rather the following disadvantages:
1.Legacy CPG brands are not [yet] direct-to-consumer.
When consumers are running low on shampoo, they often don’t purchase shampoo directly through a brand shampoo company’s website, but rather they make their purchase through a third-party seller online or in-store. Traditionally, CPG companies have relied on these third-party retailers to promote and sell their products.
2. The CPG category is becoming more crowded than ever.
With more CPG companies joining the industry than ever before, it can be easy to get lost in the mix.
3. Disruptor brands are making noise with direct-to-consumer or subscription models.
Newly emerged CPG brands are cutting out middle-man retailers and enabling consumers to purchase directly with the brand. This business model allows them to advertise a lower price and sometimes pass along savings to consumers, resulting in stolen market share from legacy brands. Brand loyalty drivers have evolved. Gen Z and Millennials prefer experiences over products. The appeal of CPG brands goes far beyond owning the actual product. For Gen Z and Millennials, it’s as much about the experience surrounding the product itself. Brands that deliver on the expected brand experience are the brands winning the hearts and minds over those brands relying on traditional loyalty drivers.
Time for CPG to Go Digital
For decades, legacy CPG brands were the only brands that could afford to invest in expensive TV advertising. But now as mobile has surpassed television ad spend, there is more opportunity for CPG brands to jump on-board the digital trend – transforming their advertising plans. Brands no longer need hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars for one television spot. There are now ample opportunities for companies with smaller advertising budgets to utilize mobile, display, social, video and out-of-home – and these platforms also have a more targeted, larger reach.
Because CPG brands, big or small, can now afford to advertise on a variety of platforms, they no longer have to rely on their third-party retailers to get their message to consumers. The shift in advertising is also shifting the brand messaging for CPG – they are now speaking directly to the consumer.
Incorporating Programmatic
A huge advantage in incorporating more digital advertising for CPG brands is the ability to target consumers better and measure the campaign’s success on both upper and lower-funnel KPIs. CPG brands can target consumers based on age, income, interests, mobile usage, and many more specific tactics. Additionally, they can incorporate location attribution and sales lift measurement to report back on the campaign’s success in driving in-store traffic and sales. Below is a case study example of a CPG – orange juice brand that drove campaign success using a programmatic approach to digital advertising. Let’s get into it!
Case Study: CPG Brand targeting Millennial Moms
Download the case study here: Case-Study-CPG-Brand-Targeting-Millennial-Moms.
Challenge
A leading CPG – orange juice brand wanted to maximize the consumer demand for their juice products. In particular, they aimed to reach Millennial Moms and discover new insights about orange juice purchasing behavior. Together with their agency they partnered with Digilant to drive their programmatic advertising strategy.
Strategy
Digilant deployed a programmatic advertising strategy that leveraged mobile app audience data and insights made available through PushSpring, a data marketplace offering mobile app audience data and insights, to create a custom audience of potential orange juice purchasers. Specifically, we targeted consumers based on a variety of demographics, including Millennial Moms who:
- Shopped at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Kroger, or Costco
- Have mobile apps such as PinterestCozi, Edmodo, Parents Magazine, or Family Locator
By creating and testing a variety of PushSpring audiences, the campaign was analyzed and it was determined that a specific data segment honed in on the exact audience the brand was looking to engage with.
To measure campaign performance, Digilant worked with a local attribution partner to report on brand lift and purchase intent. In addition, Digilant and the orange juice brand created a five-question survey to gauge the following insights: intent to purchase, brand consideration, spending habits, and more. Survey responses were then broken down by audience demographics resulting in a better understanding of target potential orange juice purchasers and audience-optimized programmatic advertising strategy.
In conclusion, these insights led to a successful programmatic campaign; we achieved the highest CTP from Millennial Moms – hitting the target audience requested from the client. This is just one of many examples of programmatic capabilities that increase target-specific brand awareness.
Results
Identified highest performing Millennial Mom audience segment resulting in a .30% CTR on Pinterest (~5X higher than Google’s industry standard CTR)
Discovered nuances between Millennial moms and male consumers.
- Millennial moms consumers are more likely to engage with ads on display/desktop, while male consumers are most likely to engage with ads shown in-store.
Interested in learning more about the benefits of incorporating programmatic advertising to your CPG brand’s advertising efforts? Contact us here.