Brief:
- Pepperidge Farm saw Facebook and Instagram engagement rates jump eight times above benchmarks during its "Save Something For Yourself" campaign for Milano Cookies, according to materials the company shared with Mobile Marketer. Twitter engagement performed two times higher than benchmarks, with social media driving a total of 80 million impressions overall.
- The "Save Something For Yourself" campaign utilized social listening to gather consumer insights and drive creative, and then advertised through a combination of content dayparting, keyword and hashtag targeting, sequential messaging and tailored ads that used Twitter's TV Targeting tool. The campaign also used direct, one-to-one communication over social media with #SaveSomething4U messaging.
- The bakery company saw a 2.8% sales lift driven by base dollar gains of 5.9%, which a company representative said was significant for a saturated market like cookies. The bulk of the spending occurred in June but will return online in September. The campaign also included a January pop-up event at New York's Norwood Club targeted at influencers to boost reach online.
Plan a post-vacation vacation. Pack the Milano cookies. #SaveSomething4U pic.twitter.com/cs0VYPnr1o
— Milano Cookies (@milanocookies) April 18, 2018
Insight:
The Milano "Save Something For Yourself" campaign demonstrates the engagement rates that brands can achieve using a variety of social listening and ad targeting techniques. By monitoring consumer conversations online, Pepperidge Farm was able to uncover what its female consumers were thinking about when they needed a moment for themselves, what they were doing during those moments and what time of day they typically took them, which guided the campaign's creative and communication strategies.
In this case, the personalization managed to feel specific to consumers without coming off as creepy, which has been a struggle for some marketers as they try to strike an appropriate balance. It also shows that deft use of social listening can lead to sales gains and help brands avoid the types of missteps that can have outsized consequences due to trying too hard to connect with consumers through social media.
By launching the campaign with a pop-up event, Pepperidge Farm smartly met target consumers on their ground: 72% of millennial women reported that spending money on experiences makes them the happiest, with 54% saying experiences will likely drive their biggest purchases in the next year, according to a survey by performance marketing agency Merkle and Levo. These events can be memorable ways to foster better connections between consumers and brands, while photo-worthy activations could compel visitors to snap pictures and share them online, furthering the pop-up's reach.