The Snyder's-Lance Sandwich Crackers brand recently wrapped the first of a number of major grassroots efforts to gain share at the local level in key markets. The idea is to encourage trial and build brand awareness.
The cracker sandwich category runs up about $300 million is sales each year with Snyder grabbing about 46% share nationally, not including mass merchants like Walmart. However, when picked apart by market, that share can vary widely so began the campaign to elbow in on competitors like Keebler and Ritz in places like Boston, MA, and St. Paul, MN, where the goal is to grow share to that national 46% number within two years.
“We choose those two markets because the category is developed and we have great distribution and partners. It’s where we have a tremendous opportunity to grow,” Alvaro Trinidad, senior brand manager, Lance Sandwich Crackers, said. “It’s not like we’re introducing a new snack to that market.”
Messaging drives home the attributes of Toast-Chee: a cracker with zero trans fats and real peanut butter that bakes up to a wholesome snack,” said Katie Barrett, senior account executive at BFG Communications, which is handling the program.
The brand and its agency chose a grassroots approach reaching out to moms and kids at local events and conducting in-store events.
Over about 10 days spanning December and January 25,000 samples of Toast-Chee were distributed by the “Snack Patrol” at the New England Sports Center in Boston. Meanwhile, over in St. Paul, 300,000 hearty mid-westerners withstood freezing temperatures to watch two Winter Carnival parades where reps parked a vehicle wrapped in Toast-Chee branding and topped it with a large replica of a box of the crackers.
Also in St. Paul, an in-store program, “Snack Booths,” was set up near the cracker aisle at Cub grocery stores. Some 41,000 samples and 30,000 55-cents off coupons were handed to customers over about a week and a half. The branded SUV parked out front alerted consumers that something was going on inside.
At all of the locations, the Snack Patrol was equipped with iPads to show visitors the “Cracker Snacker Face” on Facebook where they could manipulate images of themselves to look like a square cracker.
“A big portion of having the iPad on site was to bring the online activities to the events through Facebook,” Barrett said. “It’s a way to continue to target those consumers and talk to them. In Boston and Minnesota we saw about 20% of all consumers engage with app on site. It’s continuing the conversation and the momentum.”
As the promotions drew to a close, in-store sales where the activations took place rose 200% to 400% over the previous year, Trinidad said.
What’s next?
“We’re getting ready to ramp up in a few more markets,” he said.
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