LARABAR — DIGITAL MARKETING EFFORTS IN THE PAST YEAR

• Throughout the past year, larabar has worked with Instagram influencers such as Jessica Skye, Kim Hartwell, Natalie Glaze and fitness blogger Adrienne Herbert.
• The company that is behind Larabar, General Mills, has invested £700,000 in the Larabar launch campaign. A third of this investment was allocated to influencers.
• On Instagram, insights surrounding the heritage and founding of the brand were presented and questions from the public were answered. The posts depicted the products in eye-catching ways and in various situations, such as inside of a sandwich box.
• On Pinterest, the product was marketed by suggesting suitable flavors that "go well" with the product, while on YouTube, a story about the founder and his creation of Larabar was published.

POSITIONING STRATEGIES

• Larabar was positioned as a "healthy bar" that appeals to young, active, purpose-driven and responsible individuals, with specific aim at individuals interested in wellness, yoga and fashion. The snack has made a debut at the London Fashion Week and was labeled the "healthy food for influencers"
• The Larabar campaign also aimed at enviromentally-aware consumers by working alongside enviromentally-friendly "Larabikes" and in presence of multiple recycling bins, to emphasize environmental awareness.

DIGITAL CHANNELS USED TO REACH CONSUMERS

• The brand's homepage depicts Lara, the founder of the brand, and her story behind the product.
• On the brand's Instagram account, which boasts 95,000 followers, mostly photographs showing the product are posted, with emphasis on brand's values. On their Pinterest account, health advices related to the bar are posted.
• Facebook is also used by this brand, often to create connections between specific holidays, such as the Mother's Day, and the product. The brand's Facebook account boasts over 260,000 followers 
• On Twitter, the brand has 40,600 followers, while on YouTube, the brand boasts 3,940 subscribers.

BRAND STORYTELLING VS. PRODUCT MERCHANDISING

• On its website, the brand is most focused on the brand storytelling, with immersive presentations and hyperlinks, all connected to brand's story. Founder's story behind the product is highlighted, using professionally-made animations. This is also the case on the brand's Instagram and YouTube accounts.
• The brand's Facebook account, on the other hand, is rather focused on promotions and marketing of the product itself. Overall, more effort is put into promoting the brand's storytelling.

Research Strategy:

DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS WITHIN THE PAST YEAR

The "No B.S." campaign featuring Ice-T

• The ‘No B. S.’ (No Bad Staff) campaign was launched in 2018 and was RX Bar’s first national campaign.
• The campaign prioritized product merchandising, avoiding brand story telling. This was evident in their commercial advertising efforts. Their message was straightforward and focused on the promoting the product itself.
• According to the company, the approach was designed to shape attitudes of customers and communicate the idea behind straightforwardness. As part of the campaign, one-colored posters with simple messaging were launched. The brand has hired a rapper to promote the product across digital, film and radio advertising means.

The "Simple Good" campaign

• In 2019, the brand has launched a new campaign with a different approach. The new campaign included brand storytelling as part of marketing efforts and "covered a broader context of the brand's focus".
• The campaign name was "Simple Good". According to RXBars Chief Marketing Officer, the idea was to highlight the legacy behind the brand and tell the story the product was built on. The 2018 "No B. S." campaign was, among other things, abandoned because of the controversy of the campaign name itself.
• The new campaign featured advertisements with an increased focus on the product ingredients.

POSITIONING STRATEGIES

•  Throughout the campaigns, RxBar's focus was to position the brand as honest, straightforward and with "no hidden elements".
• According to the director of masterbrand, the efforts were aimed at differentiating the brand from today's common means of promotion, such as Instagram influencers and photo-shopped ingredients.
• The 2019 "Simple Good" campaign has complemented the 2018 "No B. S." campaign, in that the brand has highlighted the story/mission behind the product (active ingredients) and paired it with the honesty and straightforwardness of the first campaign. The campaigns have put an emphasis on the product's simple and natural ingredients.

DIGITAL CHANNELS

•  Social media platforms were utilized as part of the campaign, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Google Ads were used to increase brand awareness among consumers, while out-of-home advertising efforts were mostly in forms of billboards, most notably across the New York's public transportation system.

Research Strategy:

LAUNCH of the DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

• Kind Snacks launched the 'Be Kind to Yourself' campaign on June 10, 2019.
• The aim of the campaign was to “remind people that kindness starts with them” and highlight the “importance of self-care.”
• The company was also celebrating its 15th anniversary when the campaign was launched.

POSITIONING STRATEGIES

• Kind Snacks has used the 'Be Kind to Yourself' campaign to position its snacks as having “first ingredient superiority” and being healthier than its competitors’ products.
• It has been reported that the 'Be Kind to Yourself' campaign was launched to counter Clif Bar’s print ad in the New York Times that challenged Kind Snacks to use organic ingredients, as well as the follow-up TV spot released by Clif Bar.
• As seen in the main commercial, the narrator stated that the first ingredient in the Clif Bar product is brown rice syrup (sugar) while the first ingredient for the Kind Snacks product featured is almonds. The narrator continued to say that the snack used “only five grams of sugar,” which is “75% less sugar than the leading Clif Bar.”
• The company did not directly address Clif Bar anymore after the main commercial was released. However, it has continued to emphasize the use of healthy ingredients on its website (“real food, wholesome ingredients”) and in posts on social media. The content in its posts on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms features “5g of sugar” and other healthy ingredients.
• In general, posts published on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms before the 'Be Kind to Yourself' campaign was launched also featured the company promoting its use of healthy ingredients and less sugar.

DIGITAL CHANNELS USED

• According to the press release, Kind Snacks is using eight different digital channels to run the Be Kind to Yourself campaign. These are the same digital channels that it uses to market its products and reach customers.
• Kind Snacks’ website features the tagline “give KIND a try,” and there is also a page dedicated to the company’s “health and nutrition guiding principles.”
• Kind Snacks’ Amazon page features the tagline “be kind to yourself,” a video on the story behind the company’s name and a list of products offered by Kind Snacks.
• Kind Snacks’ Facebook account has 482,202 likes and 476,449 followers, and has an animated banner at the top of the page that features its products.
• Kind Snacks has 138,356 Instagram followers and the page’s description features #bekindtoyourself.
• The company’s Pinterest page has 60,500 monthly viewers and its page’s description also features #bekindtoyourself.
• Kind Snacks’ YouTube channel has 4,750 subscribers and has published only four videos since September 2018.
• The company has 73,540 followers on Twitter and has also placed #bekindtoyourself in its description.
• Kind Snacks’ LinkedIn account has 46,882 followers and has only 21 posts published over the past year.

CONTENT AND FUNCTIONALITY PRIORITIZED

• On social media, Kind Snacks is most active on Facebook and Twitter with around 100 to 150 posts published over the past year.
• An examination of the company’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts has revealed that Kind Snacks does not prioritize any specific types of formats/functions as they feature a mixture of images, videos, and text as well as links to external articles.
• Besides content about its products, Kind Snacks has also posted content related to its founder Daniel Lubetzky.
• Kind Snacks only prioritized “attacking” its competitors in the 'Be Kind to Yourself' campaign.
• In general, the company prioritizes content that promotes its use of healthier ingredients.

MORE TIME SPENT ON BRAND STORYTELLING

• The 'Be Kind to Yourself' campaign focused on brand storytelling by linking kindness to healthy products.
• Similarly, Kind Snacks’ “Promise” web page, video on its Amazon page (origin of company's name), and posts related to the Kind Snack & Give Back project have shown how the company spends more time on brand storytelling than simply promoting its merchandises.
• Kind Snacks is only focused on product merchandising when new products are launched.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

US - increasing demand for "energy bars"

• According to a 2018 "U. S. Snacking Survey", 65% of nutrition bar consumers turn to bars when looking for an energy boost. Having recognized this trend, various US companies such as Heartside Food Solutions have started positioning the nutrition bars to "do more than just quench hunger". Emphasis has been put on the organic origin of ingredients that can be found in nutrition bars.

US & Europe - increased health consciousness

• When it comes to the US, the potential health effects of unknown ingredients have been addressed by introducing clean label claims (such as "all-natural" or "pure"). This has been confirmed by various credible publications, including PR Newswire, where it has been stated that the increased consumer demand for nutritious and organic ingredients fuels the nutritional bars market.
•  The UK has also reflected this trend. Renowned WICKED bars, manufactured by All In Nutrition, have also obtained clean-label tags and accordingly received enhaced brand recognition.

HELPFUL FINDINGS

The "Vegan Rush"

• Because of the consumer demand for organic ingredients, food innovators and nutrition bar producers worldwide are increasingly focused on natural, nutrition-rich ingredients. This trend is known as the "Vegan Rush".
• Driven by this trend, nutrition bar producers are increasingly marketing the innovations in their products, that is, high protein, plant-based nutrition bars consisting of 100% natural, gluten-free ingredients.
• This trend was noticed in Europe, when Nutrition & Santé SAS recently completed the acquisition of BC Bio, a French-based producer and distributor of organic products.

Shift to D2C on a global level

• In order to directly reach consumers, nutritional bar manufacturers are increasingly placing their brands in unusual marketing channels, such as gyms and clubs.
• To keep up with this trend, Kellogg has built its own community with a specific D2C e-commerce website to promote its granola bar product lines.
• A similar move has been made by RXBar, when its founders, Peter Rahal and Jared Smith decided to set up an online shop and sell directly to consumers, rather than through brick-and-mortar chains.
• According to Samir Bhavnani, the AVP at 1010data, the growth of the nutritional bar market can be attributed to online D2C sales.
• Some US-based companies, such as Soylent, have also gone online to reach their consumers directly. Fitness enthusiasts, who want convenience while purchasing nutrition products, have been the largest D2C target for the nutritional bar brands. The increasing millenial population, rising disposable income and urbanization have also positively affected the shift from brick-and-mortar stores to online D2C marketing means.

Research Strategy

Findings

1. Refrigerated Bars

• One trend affecting the snack and performance nutrition bars CPG category in the U.S. involves refrigerated bars.
•  Refrigerated bars are the fresh version of a snack/nutrition bar, hence why they need to be refrigerated.
• In fact, among shelf-stable products that have now entered the fresh-product segment, refrigerated bars have done so "most prominently."
•  Wellness bars are even fueling the growth of the refrigerated product segment overall, not just in the snack/nutrition bar market.
• A key reason behind the refrigerated bar trend that manufacturers are clearly responding to is the fact that a research study published by Mintel found that the top purchase factor among iGen and Millennials is fresh food.
• This trend is affecting the U.S. snack and performance nutrition bar industry because it has introduced a whole new category of such bars into the market, whereas they used to only be manufactured for non-refrigerated storage.
• This trend is also affecting the U.S. snack and performance nutrition bar industry by creating more competition due to its popularity. According to the source Nutritional Outlook, "Compared to the growth rate of the shelf-stable wellness bars/gels segment, the refrigerated set is up double digits, up 93.6%, totaling $37.8 million in annual sales."
• A company at the forefront of this trend is Perfect Bar. Just one year ago, the company launched its product line called "Perfect Kids, which the company claims is the first refrigerated kids’ snack bar."
• Another company at the forefront of this trend is OHi, which saw its distribution of retailers grew four-fold since January 2018 and now includes over 1,000 stores.

2. Protein Focused

• A second trend affecting the snack and performance nutrition bars CPG category in the U.S. is the focus on protein within such products.
• According to AMCO Proteins, "[p]rotein remains the overriding health trend in today’s nutrition bars."
• This trend is affecting the U.S. snack and performance nutrition bar industry by fueling the production of protein snack and performance nutrition bars. In fact, approximately 33% of snack and performance nutrition bars in the U.S. "are associated with protein."
• The incorporation of protein within snack and performance nutrition bars increased, as sales of such bars have risen 9% compared to the 1% decline of bars that are devoid of protein (per a 2019 article).
• Snack and performance nutrition bars "associated with protein" yielded $2 billion in sales, according to a 2019 article published by industry source AMCO Proteins.
• A company at the forefront of this trend is Glanbia, which manufactures over "20 protein bar solutions designed to address common formulation issues and to help co-manufacturers, large CPGs, and innovative marketers develop the types of bars consumers prefer."

3. Product Transparency

• A third trend affecting the snack and performance nutrition bars CPG category in the U.S. is product transparency.
•  Product transparency refers to snack and performance nutrition bar manufacturers clearly stating what ingredients and types of ingredients (e.g. non-GMO) are included within products. Furthermore, product transparency also usually refers to healthy ingredients.
• While this trend originates from consumers who are very intentional about which ingredients they do and don't consume, this trend is equally a business trend because companies are responding to such consumer interests through the types of snack and nutrition bars they manufacture.
• In fact, product transparency was described by the source Neutraceuticals World as "a key trend propelling growth within the bar and snack categories."
• As was stated in part in the previous statement, product transparency is affecting the U.S. snack and performance nutrition bar industry by propelling the industry's growth.
• A company at the forefront of this trend is RXBAR, which has been described as both "a prime example of transparent product formulation" and a "popular clean label protein bar brand."
• RXBAR provides transparent protein bars through a brief, simple list of known ingredients included in the center of its packaging for consumers to easily see. The company offers 11 different varieties of its nutritional snack bars.
• Another company at the forefront of this trend is KIND Healthy Snacks, which was the "first national snack brand to publish added sugar content" for its products, many of which are snack and nutrition bars.

Your Research Team Applied the Following Strategy: