Think of it as a typecast actor: like Melissa Gilbert who played Half Pint in “Little House on the Prairie.” No matter what other role she takes on, that freckle-faced little country girl seeps through. The same can happen with products viewed as “seasonal.”
Alouette, the specialty cheese maker, is one such product. People get in the habit of adding it to the shopping list when planning Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities, but largely forget about it the rest of the year. Alouette even encouraged that behavior by marketing the brand as a cheese for special occasions.
“We took a step back and talked with the consumers and found that we were reiterating something they already new,” says Alouette brand manager Jody Hallman. “The relationship was very shallow. We were very much focused on the seasonality of the product line.”
The solution?
Run a promotion that offers consumers tips and ideas on ways to use the cheeses year round. Then plan the program to run during warm weather months when sales typically stall.
Enter Circle One Marketing, a repositioning of the brand and a promotional game. Through Sept. 30, game codes are being packaged with the Spreadables line and Baby Brie Wheels and Wedges that serve two purposes: for people to use to enter a sweepstakes and as vehicles to imprint 365 tips.
One tip suggests: “Start a book club where every month someone not only brings a new book, but also brings a new variety of Alouette for tasting.”
“Summer time is a period when Alouette is looking for some activity,” says Kerry Tolisano, an account director at Circle One Marketing.
Alouette, owned by BC-USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Bongrain S.A., which is based in Viroflay, France, doesn’t have the budget to spend on traditional media, so it put $250,000 against the program “where we can really measure the ROI,” Hallman says.
Promising results came quickly. By July 10, 15,000 entries had been received. Alouette is using the registration data to distinguish those who are buying its cheeses from “sweepstakes junkies,” who pulled a free code from the microsite, Hallman says.
It will mail its monthly newsletter to non-customers who indicated likely purchase intent and make sure others buying the cheeses are in its database.
As for the contest, each day one entrant will win a $25 electronic Supercertificate from www.GiftCertificates.com. Players are also entered to win an outdoor kitchen inspired by Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.
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