Mondelez Offers Bites for Busy Mornings
belVita Bites Campaign
KEY INSIGHTS: Busy consumers are increasingly substituting the breakfast meal with snacks or skipping it altogether, creating demand for quick and portable sources of nutrition to start their day.
ACTIVATION: Mondelez launched a Bites line extension, promoting the launch through radio, TV, FSIs, digital advertising and social media as well as in-store sampling and POS.
East Hanover, N.J. — Targeting the 42% of Americans who skip breakfast due to their busy mornings, Mondelez International launched belVita Bites in January – a smaller version of the belVita breakfast biscuits introduced to the U.S. in 2012. “Mornings are a particularly busy time for our consumers,” says Mikhail Chapnik, senior brand manager for belVita. “They are looking for quick, on-the-go and nutritious breakfast choices that can be enjoyed no matter how busy their schedules.”
Among the insights that contributed to the launch were multiple findings from Technomic Inc., Chicago; NPD Group, Port Washington, New York; and IRi, Chicago, that all speak to the trend of busy consumers either replacing their breakfast with a snack or skipping the meal altogether. “Breakfast has the highest usage of traditional core snacks such as protein bars, snack mix and meat snacks instead of a meal,” Chapnik says, “leading consumers to seek quick and convenient options.”
The target consumer for belVita Bites is the active adult between the ages of 25 and 45, he says, and the objective of the campaign was to “expand usage in a growing segment of the breakfast category.”
Along the path to purchase, the brand’s efforts to drive traffic into stores included pre-shop promotional radio, national TV, FSIs, digital ad banners and social media. “Our main focus was getting consumers to sample the product,” says Chapnik. “We noticed that once people try it, they become avid consumers. Therefore, the specific tactics that we employed during the launch were in-store sampling, communication and in-store incentives.”
This initiative was backed by retailer programs at Kroger, Target, Ahold USA and others. Custom belVita POS including floorstands and power wings were used at launch to enhance merchandising and support shopper demand.
“Mondelez is a direct-store-delivery consumer packaged goods company, so speed to market leveraging POS and merchandising is a key advantage,” Chapnik says. “The use of our DSD sales force, national consumer activity, and customer-specific tactics including displays and POS were key to delivering the message of belVita Bites to the consumer and shopper.”
Geometry Global, New York, handled shopper marketing strategy and execution; HMT Associates, Seven Hills, Ohio, contributed to the creative development; Momentum Worldwide, New York, contributed to national consumer elements; and Eastwest Marketing Group, New York, developed in-store POS.
Chapnik says the belVita brand introduced its first breakfast biscuits in France more than 10 years ago and is now available in more than 40 countries around the world. “BelVita has been a great example of a brand that has received sustained support since launch,” he says. “We continue to provide substantial support every year to develop this sub-category and eating occasion for our consumers/shoppers and retailers.”
