Chipotle's Store Closure A Marketing Stunt

In the aftermath of Chipotle's E. coli and norovirus outbreaks, Chipotle said sales at stores open at least a year dropped 30% in December.

As a response, Chipotle Mexican Grill recently announced several moves to“to reassure our customers that this can’t happen again”, including:

• DNA-based testing on many ingredients to ensure quality and safety

• Making changes to improve food safely by moving the chopping of tomatoes/lettuce and shredding of cheese to a central location, blanching onion/avocados/limes to remove any potential germs before they're chopped, and updating meat marinating protocols

• New food safety training protocols

• Closing its ~1,900 restaurants for a few hours on February 8 to host an all company meeting via video conference with its ~60,000 employees nationwide to talk about food safety changes, thank its employees for their hard work during the crisis, and restore employee morale. Stores are expected to reopen at 3 p.m. local time that day, meaning the chain will sacrifice sales during lunch. "We're going to let all of our folks know about how this happened, and, in detail, all the steps that we're taking to ensure that it won't happen again . . . It's going to be a great rally" explained Chipotle founder and co-CEO Steve Ells.

• Paid sick leave for employee to help reduce spread of germs

• Launching a multifaceted marketing and PR campaign that includes direct mail and traditional advertising in early February after it expects the CDC to wrap up its multi-state investigation into the food-borne outbreak, with the goal “to tell our story about what happened,” according 
  to Mark Crumpacker, chief creative and development officer 

• Offering a $50 discount and a limited-edition gift from the maker of Tabasco on the first 1,500 catering or "Burritos by the Box" orders for 20 or more people for Feb. 7

• Rolling out a store-by-store grass roots marketing effort that empowers each store manager to create his/her own local reactivation campaign by doubling the amount of free food each store is authorized to give-away

With these moves, the company has finally decided to move from defense to offense in their response. But what took so long? Why hasn't the company moved quicker to own the conversation?

So far, the store closures have made the biggest headlines. But the jury is still out whether this is a smart strategic decision or not.

A restaurant chain temporarily closing its doors is not unprecedented. In 2008, after returning as the CEO, Howard Schulz famously closed all Starbucks to improve the consumer experience at the beginning of his effort to reignite sales growth.

But for Chipotle, this peace offering again seems like its too little, too late. If they were going to do this, shouldn't this have occurred weeks ago?  February 8th is still relatively far away, and several more weeks removed from the actual outbreaks. So in effect, the company is prolonging the news cycle.  

And, besides, is it even the right strategy and message for what the brand needs at this stage? The vast majority of consumers aren't reading the company's press releases or watching the news, so the store closures are likely to lead to some element of confusion and re-raise awareness of the outbreaks.  Was "my" store impacted by the outbreak?  Are they closing the store to clean it?  

From a symbolic standpoint, closing its doors to consumers may alos actually be sending the wrong symbolic message. In fact, the very act of shutting the doors, physically blocks the consumer out and reduces transparency verses inviting consumers back in to give the brand another shot. The notion of transparency in a crisis is critical, even more important when your brand's foundation is built on transparency as is Chipotle's. To this end, the store closures feel like the wrong action for this event and more of a PR stunt to grab headlines.  

I'd argue the brand's response should have been based on four pillars: responsibility, transparency, even higher standards, and community.

1) The brand, as it did, should quickly come out to take responsibility for the outbreak and ensure the risk of future outbreaks will be minimized. The brand needed to quickly present a clear action plan. Part of quickly taking responsibility means transitioning from defense to offense by owning the conversation and minimizing the spreading of any false information. To achieve this, in addition to actively pushing out information, the brand needs to be present in the places consumers are going to find information. To this end, I would have recommended activating a search engine campaign (both SEO and SEM) on a variety of potential terms consumers are likely to search (e.g., Chipotle outbreak, Chipotle food safety, etc.) to learn more to help funnel them to your website vs. third party websites.

2) The brand needs to maintain full transparency with its consumers. The company still has not broadly announced the cause of the outbreak incidents. This feels like a major mistake. Could it be that the either still do not know the cause or it's multiple products lack of transparency flies in the face of the company's stated values. Lack of knowledge escalates the fear. As opposed to consumer just avoiding the salsa or lettuce, they avoid everything. I was disappointed to notice that is was very difficult to find any information of the outbreaks or the action plan on Chipotle's direct website. As best as I could tell you either had to type in specific terms into Chipotle's search tool or run a google search to to find https://www.chipotle.com/update. I'd also argue the company meeting on February 8th should be open to the press and broadcast over the internet for consumers to view as well in an effort to continue promoting transparency.

3) Chipotle's brand is all about holding fast food to a higher standard in terms of food quality, and in many ways their response as outlined above does just this. Most of these measure far exceed industry standards and Chipotle should rally the cry for other restaurants to match them. The action item of offering employees sick leave is enormous and I do not believe the company has done a good enough job of promoting to ensure it receives more media attention. This should resonate very broadly not only as a food safety measure, but also as a workers rights/benefit.  By pivoting the media discussion to groundbreaking steps like these, Chipotle has the opportunity to regain its pedestal as a champion for fair and humane business practices. 

4) Finally, and most importantly, the brand needs to get people eating their food again, even if its free food. The best way to do this is through community engagement. This means not just open the doors to its community, but also actively going out and engaging in new ways with them. It's easy for consumers to distrust a national brand, but much harder a restaurant that's ingrained into their community. So investing in supporting local schools, holding community gatherings, offering free giveaways, or bring a friend in campaigns. The $50 off catering orders for the Superbowl is a good start, but why limit it to 1,500 customers? Eating the food at group gatherings reduces the stigma and judgement of coming back to the brand.

Apple iPhone 7 Headphones - When Simple Isn't So Simple

Reports recently surfaced that when Apple releases its new iPhone 7 later this year it will no longer include an industry standard 3.5 mm headphone jack. 

Instead, rumor has it, the phone manufacturer will design a new set of headphones that fit into the lightning cable port, which is the port that iPhones have historically used for power and data transfer. Consumers will also be able to use wireless headphones.

Apple will likely argue that this move allows the company to simplify the phone design and make the phone thinner. The notion of minimalism is at the heart of Apple's design principles - so this move is consistent with the brand's equity. From its products to its stores, Apple's simple design is as much about making the products beautiful as it is about making the usage experience as simple and easy as possible for the consumer.

However, in this case, Apple's quest for simple isn't so simple.

That's because the news, while seemingly minor, has unleashed a wave of consumer frustration with nearly 250,000 consumers signing a petition in a matter of a few days protesting the potential move. 

Many of these consumers are outraged that their existing headphones would be obsolete and they'd have to spend money to replace them. In this case, the simplest solution for consumers is continuing to allow them to use whatever headphones they want.  Other consumers, along with environmentalists, are also concerned about the environmental impact of the electronic waste from the disposal of obsolete headphones.

Simply put, while this move is inevitable in the long-term.  Apple may have to rethink the short-term impact of this design move or at consider including a free adapter.

Joe Biden My Winner of Best Political Ads of 2015

No politics from me, yet. However, I did want to share my favorite campaign advertisement to date based purely on the criteria that the ads stop and pull you in. Needless to say, the campaign did not, however, accomplish its mission.

• "Published on Oct 13, 2015: This is the second television ad released by the Draft Biden 2016 Super-PAC, asking Joe Biden to run for President in 2016. Joe Biden was proud to work alongside President Obama to rebuild our economy in the wake of the Great Recession. He and President Obama understood the challenges facing American families because of the struggles their own families had faced earlier in their lives. Joe Biden: “A job is about a lot more than a pay check. It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about your place in the community. It’s about being able to look your child in the eye and say, ‘honey, it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it and know it’s true. You never quit on America and you deserve a president who will never quit on you.”

• "Published on Oct 7, 2015: This is the first television ad released by the Draft Biden 2016 Super-PAC, asking Joe Biden to run for President in 2016. The ad highlights how Joe has overcome personal tragedies and his vision for the future in his own words: “We are on the cusp of some of the most astonishing breakthroughs in the history of mankind – scientific, technological, socially. It will be up to you in this changing world to translate those unprecedented capabilities into a greater measure of happiness and meaning, not just for yourself but for the world around you.”

Is Coconut Water the Next Greek Yogurt?

The US coconut water category is now worth well over $400 million, an increase of well over 500% since 2010. While the category will be challenged to sustain this historic growth trajectory, much like Greek yogurt did to the yogurt category, it is already helping change the type of beverages Americans consume albeit on a much smaller scale.

A decade ago, Greek yogurt made up less than 1% of all U.S. yogurt sales. Now it makes up more than half. In doing so, not only did the Greek yogurt revolution reignite category growth, but more importantly it changed the way consumers and retailers think about the yogurt category.  More specifically, Greek yogurt accomplished three things: 

1. Boosted the category's health benefits by packing in several grams of protein
2. Became more than a meal in itself, but also an ingredient in other 
3. Broadened Americans' yogurt palates and opened their minds to other new types of yogurt (i.e., Australian, Icelandic, Asian, lactose free, sheep’s milk, goat’s milk, soy ,and Chia Pods)

In a very similar fashion, coconut water is accomplishing all three of these same results.

1. Much of coconut water's initial growth came from claims that it was a ultra-hydrating sports drink packed with natural electrolytes (i.e., potassium and sodium). While many brands have backed away from these initial claims, the category is still widely marketed as a natural beverage without artificial ingredients - which is an implicit 'better for you' health claim. And, in reality, this softer claim likely has broader appeal and relevancy among the mainstream market.
2. Coconut water is becoming increasing used as an ingredient in a broad range of meal recipes, smoothies, and cocktails, as well as, an ingredient in personal care products such as shampoo and skin care.
3. Even as the coconut category continues to mature and diversify its range of flavors, it's success has already triggered the next wave of plant-based water innovation. Many of the emerging brands in this next wave also claim to have hydration and nutrition benefits for athletes. Emerging variations include:
   • Maple Water. Maple water stems from maple tree sap and claims to be a source of manganese, calcium, and other vitamins. A few brand examples include Drink Maple, Happy Tree, Vertical Water, and Seva.

   • Cherry Juice. The largest cherry juice brand is Cheribundi. Cherry juice takes the health claims to the next level by suggesting it acts as an anti-inflammatory that helps post-workout recovery by reducing muscle pain.

   • Beet Juice. Beet juice allegedly increases blood and oxygen flow to athletes' muscles which in turn helps boost endurance.
   • King Coconut. King coconuts are related, but differ from the green coconuts used in traditional coconut water. They reportedly have more vitamin c and a softer taste profile

   
   

Going forward, its safe to assume, coconut water will benefit from the sustained upward trends of  better-for-you beverages and “clean labels”. While the category will continue to grow, its somewhat polarizing flavor profile may prevent it from ever reaching the size of Greek yogurt category in the US.  Nonetheless, coconut water is causing increasingly big ripples in the beverage category and remains a category worth watching.

Identical Twins Chewing Gum

This came out about a year ago, but is an awesome viral commercial for Beldent Chewing Gum from Argentina.  It's called "Almost Identical Twins" and is an excellent execution.

Very clever...

Is Audi Naughty or Nice?

In only a matter of few months, Audi appears to have done a reverse shifts on its brand positioning, or at least the articulation of its brand character - leaving consumers to wonder if its naughty or nice.

Audi launched a new advertisement last summer entitled "nice performance" that aims to position the brand as the performance vehicle for considerate people, while BMW as the car for self-entitled jerks.

"The Audi A4. Engineered with a spirit of excellence, thoughtfulness and respect - traits also shared by those that drive one. Sure, it's a German luxury performance sedan, but it's these special qualities that put it in a class of its own," Audi says.

 

However, in January, in an abrupt change, Audi started running a commercial entitled "swim" that features a school-aged boy breaking the town pool rules, only to be commended by his approving mother.  Sure his main crime is doing a cannon ball into the community pool.  But, nevertheless, the brand communication is clear - society's rules are meant to be broken. That with Audi, its okay to be a little naughty in order to express yourself.

"When a young rebel considers taking a plunge, he envisions the consequences of challenging everything he’s been told. For over 100 years, Audi has embraced that same challenger spirit. You’ll see it in our cars, our company, and in everything that we do," Audi says

I find the ad funny, but pushing the brand too far from its non-conformist messaging.  There is a difference between expressing your individuality and encouraging kids to break society's rules.  And more importantly, a far cry from the position as the "nice" guy.

Interestingly, Audi recently started re-running it's 'nice performance' ad.

So is Audi naughty or nice?  Either can potentially work, just not both.

Apple Pay Gets Rolling Via Bank Partners

I'm a big fan of how Apple has started promoting Apple Pay.

Apple itself has yet to run any televised commercials for the service.  Instead, Apple has been partnering with the largest credit card issuers to promote the product for them.  In fact, Apple recently claiming that Pay is supported by credit cards representing roughly 90% of U.S. purchase volume.

Recently banks such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, and Capital One have all aired commercials promoting Apple Pay . . .

Capital One:



Wells Fargo:



Bank of America:



While all of these advertisements are done by different banks, Apple has done a great job to partner with each to make them all feel relatively consistent and delivering on the same message.  Apple's influence is also clear in showcasing the product in use.  Since the launch of the iPhone, Apple has hands down had the best product demos of any TV commercials.

More importantly, the launch strategy of handing over the product promotion to business partners is successful because it accomplishes three key goals:

1. Helps generate a tremendous amount of product awareness
2. Simplifies the notion of mobile payments by making it just an extension of an existing credit or debit card
3. Creates credibility by linking the new technology with the financial institutions that consumers already trust for their banking needs

Now all Apple has to do is continue to enroll more retailers and start pumping out more iPhones.

Bud Light Recycles Coke's Label Campaign

A few years ago, Coke launched its "Share a Coke" campaign first overseas and then in the US over the past summer where the brand put the 250 most popular American teen names and other millennial sayings on its labels.

Now it looks like Bud Light is taking a page out of Coca-Cola's playbook.  As part of its "Perfect Beer For Whatever Happens", Bud Light is launching new bottle labels featuring over 100 different varying messages.



Each label touts Bud Light is the "perfect beer for ... ". 

For example:

• "the perfect beer for when you're eating breakfast meats outside of breakfast hours"
• "the perfect beer for forming a one-person conga line"
• "the perfect beer for leaving your comfort zone in another time zone"
• "the perfect beer for taking off the blindfold and showing that piñata who's boss"
• "the perfect beer for tuning up the old air guitar"

The messages are suppose to help position the brand around inspiring spontaneous fun. And while the messages are fun enough, they do not have the same compelling call to purchase as consumers seeing their names on a bottle or labels such as "BFF,” “Star,” “Bestie,” “Legend,” “Grillmaster,” “Buddy” and “Wingman” like Coke featured. 

Additionally, the messaging in at least one of the accompany TV advertisements fails to hit home on this core benefit because it over complicates its message by trying to communicate too many things...



The area of the campaign that has the most promise is where the brand will customize beer bottle labels sold at sporting events and concerts that allow some drinkers the chance to win random, on-the-spot prizes, such as backstage passes or other real-time rewards.

Using the beer labels as a ticket for entry into a contest or a treasure hunt is clever and I believe will be compelling enough to drive consumers at the events to purchase.  The biggest question is how much scale can Bud Light generate with event based programs and will it be enough to generate sufficient social buzz to drive a noticeable lift in sales?  The other question is why didn't the brand aim bigger?  It seems like the brand could replicate this strategy on a much large scale with a McDonald's like Monopoly game where the notion of spontaneous fun can support itself organically.

Radio Shack Had The Best Superbowl Ad

In a year with few great Super Bowl commercials, Radio Shack won the battle for best Super Bowl commercial in my mind. Not only was it entertaining, but it was also highly effective and had a strong brand linkage. Take a look . . .



First and foremost, the ad is fun and entertaining. They engage the audience by bringing back highly recognizable 1980's characters and playing well known music.

Second, the ad hit hard against a highly relevant consumer insights - Radio Shack has lost relevance in consumers' minds. By owning up to this insight and embracing it head on, the advertisement connects with consumers current perceptions and provides a launching point to then move the conversation beyond this basic belief by actually showing the store being striped down to the bones and rebuilt.  This commercial approach is actually highly reminiscent of what Domino's did with the re-launch of its new recipe pizza 4 or 5 years ago, when it showcased insights from its harshest critics.

Finally, unlike most Super Bowl ads, this commercial was actually about the brand (vs. a puppy and horse) and had strong brand linkage throughout, which should help make the ad more effective than most of its peers in actually moving the needle on revenue.

Overall, I thought this was an exceptional ad. Well done Radio Shack, well done.

Yoplait Deals Latest Strike in the Yogurt Wars

As I noted in previous posts, the yogurt wars are on center stage. . .

If the Greek yogurt market was a boxing match, Yoplait would be badly blooding coming out of the first several rounds (with less than a 10% market share). However, now the brand has come out of its corner swinging for Chobani, the Greek yogurt heavy weight champion.

In a good old fashion Coke vs. Pepsi style rumble, Yoplait is challenging Chobani to a taste test to determine who has the best Greek-style yogurt in an effort to win over consumers.

The backbone of their fight is a national TV campaign ads that doesn't pull any punches. . .



Yoplait's is also making the fight personal by opening a pop-up store in New York City very close to where Chobani's SOHO flagship operations are located. In the meantime, Chobani is counterpunching with the recent launch of its 100-calorie line, Chobani Simply 100, to challenge Yoplait Greek 100 ($150 million in sales) as well as running a Super Bowl advertisement to drive national awareness.

At the very least, Yoplait's highly-competitive actions will force Chobani to decide if it should switch from offense (in support its own new product innovation) to defense (by double down support of its base business). My viewpoint is Chobani is the category leader and it has to stay the course of dictating the terms of competition in the category. This means fixing its GMO image and celebrating its "nothing but goodness heritage" in the core business and leading the evolution to adult mix-ins behind its newest product launches. Keep Yoplait chasing you.

Are Consumers Souring on Chobani? Is the Brand at a Tipping Point?

In the matter of only a few years Chobani, the leading Greek Yogurt brand in America, has transformed itself from a small challenger brand into a $1 billion power-player that is giving Yoplait and Dannon a run for their money in the dairy aisle. And in full disclosure, I'm a huge fan of how Chobani built its brand (the unique product/packaging, the challenger brand refusing to back down to the traditional yogurt powerhouses, the innovation, the CEO's vision, etc.), not to mention the delicious product. There's no doubt, Chobani's rise has been magical, with it looking like the brand could do no wrong, that is until recently . . .

Chobani has hit a number of stumbling blocks over the last few months that risk alienating core consumers and challenging the long-term health of the brand. During its meteoric rise, Chobani built a tremendous groundswell of passionate, loyal core consumers. This consumer-base allowed the brand to grow organically through strong consumer advocacy, without having to spend large sums of money on traditional marketing to compete with Dannon and Yoplait. However, there are now cracks in that consumer-base. It's astonishing how many passionate negative comments have appeared on Chobani's facebook page over the last few months. Yes, there are a ton of passionate positive ones too to offset the negative advocacy, but still its troubling for the longer-term brand health. Taking a closer look at the different brand stumbles suggests the cumulative effect of all of these stumbles should be alarming for Chobani.

• Chobani issued a recall after finding a portion of its yogurt was tainted by mold, which caused over 100 consumers to become sick with symptoms including nausea and cramps. While the majority of consumers are willing to forgive and forget assuming this was a one time mistake and the company appears to have handled the mini-crisis with sincerity, events like this start chipping away at a brands trust - especially a brand with a slogan of "nothing but good". Take a read of a few of the several hundred facebook posts:

• Consumers became aware that Chobani is not sure if the grain fed to the cows producing the milk contains GMOs (genetically modified organisms). The GMO finding is very interesting because it again directly clashes with Chobani's promise of "nothing but good". As the facebook posts below illustrate, this realization is upsetting and alienating many of its core consumers. That said, the learning would be far more damaging to short-term brand sales if Chobani was still a small brand that relied on distribution from Whole Foods and other natural and premium grocery stores. Given a bulk of brand sales now come from the likes of Walmart and mainstream grocery stores, the more mainstream consumers are unlikely to blink much of an eye, at least in the short-term.    

• Chobani is downsizing its product from 6.0 to 5.3 ounces, while holding price constant equating to effectively a 12% price increase. Let's just say consumers are not going to be happy about this. Look at a few comments of the hundreds from Chobani's facebook page:

• Whole Foods announced it would de-list Chobani by early 2014. Whole Foods decision to de-list Chobani is really not a surprise given both the GMO issue as well as the brand transitioning from a unique, premium product to a mainstream, mass market mainstay. Chobani grew to over $1 billion in large part by expanding distribution from Whole Foods into mainstream grocery stores, Target, Walmart, Costco, Sam's, and many other retailers. Whole Foods' strategy is to charge a premium price on a differentiated product assortment from more mainstream channels, so as Chobani grew it became at odds with this core strategy. Whole Foods actually held distribution on Chobani longer than it typically does with most brands that mainstream - likely in large part because of Chobani's loyal consumer base and the brand's initial reluctance to discount its products in traditional grocery, mass, and club channels. These combination of factors allowed Whole Foods to maintain its margin integrity.  However, as the yogurt wars heated up and Chobani expanded production capacity (believe it or not for many months Chobani was actually selling faster than the company could manufacture it), it appears that Chobani has started playing the promotion game to fend off competition and win back consumers from the product recall. Overall, losing Whole Foods doesn't just mean lost sales, but is also another challenge to the brand image and keeping its original core consumer group.

Net-net, the combination of all of these brand stumbles will have a short-term impact on the business (e.g., the lost volume during the from the product recall, Whole Foods de-listing, downsizing), but more importantly, I believe they represent a longer-term tipping point for the brand where it will start losing an important sub-set of its passionate core consumers. These core consumers were likely some of the original supports of the brand, early advocates that spread word of mouth, and helped fuel the organic brand growth. These consumers shop at Whole Foods, believed "nothing but good" meant safe (no contamination) and pure (no GMOs), and were willing to pay more than traditional yogurt for Chobani because they felt like they were getting more from the brand (both literally an additional 0.7 ounces and figuratively in an emotional connection to the brand). Can Chobani win these consumers back before its too late?  Potentially, but to do so would require a shorter-term financial hit to the brand. I'd anticipate these consumers finding, latching onto, and starting to champion a new premium yogurt brand in Whole Foods' dairy section and helping to start building that brand. In fact, it looks like it's already starting . . .

Guinness Wheelchair Basketball Commercial

Guinness released a new TV commercial a few months ago that is outstanding on nearly every front.  It catches your attention, keeps you engages, and connects emotionally.  Like I said, outstanding on nearly all fronts.  Unfortunately, the commercial fails to link back to the brand equity for me.  Take a look.



As much as I love the ad, it just doesn't feel like a Guinness commercial to me.

Subaru Turning Into a Lifestyle Brand

Subaru gets what few other automobile manufacturers understand, the days of marketing specific product features or racing through curvy streets are over. The future is all about understanding your core consumer and marketing your brand around either their actual or aspirational lifestyle.

More and more, specific car features are becoming commodities, with slight design elements and brand image now the primary factors points of difference.  Think about it.  Volvo use to be all about safety, now all brands have state of the art breaks and airbags all over the place.  Toyota was the brand of reliability, but now America cars have joined Japanese cars at the top of the charts and the 100,000 warranty no longer even raises eye brows.

At a time of increased competition, Subaru is making waves by playing a different game.  Subaru advertisements focus on using real life scenarios to relate to their consumers vs. closed course riving stunts. The ads are all about demonstrating how Subaru safely gets you through real life.

I've included several advertisements to highlight how well they paint different slivers of people's lives.

Subaru "Stick Shift" TV Commercial

Subaru "View from the Child Seat" TV Commercial

Subaru "Best Friend" TV Commercial

Subaru "Teenager Driving Responsibility" TV Commercial

Subaru "New Car Smell" TV Commercial

Subaru "Redressing Room" TV Commercial

Subaru "The Date" TV Commercial

Subaru "Cut the Cord" TV Commercial

Subaru "Nature Painting" TV Commercial

Subaru "Let's Do That" TV Commercial

The results are not just impressive for Subaru, but record breaking.  In August, Subaru sold 41,061 cars in the US, a 45% increase versus a year ago, and more importantly its highest ever in one single month. 

Even more impressive is that Subaru saw superb sales across its entire line, including its staple models (Outback, Forester, Impreza) as well as some solid traction with the newer XV Crosstrek and BRZ models.

Soon enough other car manufacturers will hopefully realize consumers are looking for more than product attributes, their looking for a brand that enhances their desired lifestyle.

The only thing I don't like is Subaru's tag-line "Confidence in Motion", it does not connect and comes off as artificial. However, the advertisement are very strong so they more than make up for it.

Gap "Back to Blue" Great Insights, Questionable Execution

Gap has made a huge investment behind it's back-to-school campaign, which is called "Back to Blue" and focuses on promoting its denim business.

I'm a big supporter of Gap focusing its marketing efforts on core wardrobe categories like denim or khakis because I believe these are the type of items the retailer is famous for and has the most right to win with. I also really love the "Back to Blue" tag-line, not just because it fits with denim theme, but also because Gap = Blue and it signals Gap's resurgence in many consumers' minds driven by a strong turn around strategy over the last several quarters.

However, I do not believe the execution of the Back to Blue campaign is on equity for Gap. Take a look at some of the campaign imagery....

The imagery just does not say Gap to me, it looks much to hipster versus mainstream All-American. It's fine if Gap wants to start evolving its imagery to have a bit more personality, but it cannot just jump there too quickly. Perhaps a more preppy hipster look might work to bridge to Gap's equity but the slightly disheveled, glassy-eyed, slouched over look just does not fit with the Gap of today. I think the brand is reaching too far and risks alienating existing consumers as well as coming off as a poser brand to true hipsters.

Gap CM Seth Farbman explains that "The entire Back to Blue campaign embodies what it means to be comfortable in your own skin".  This might be case, and I can see this attitude come to life in the imagery, but it doesn't mean the execution is done in a way that is consistent with the brand equity. Great campaign insight, great tag-line, poor execution. That's my view at least. We'll see what the consumer says. At the very least, Gap should see a bump from fielding its first TV ads in 4 years.

The Yogurt Wars Heat Up and YOPLAIT Appears One Step Behind . . . AGAIN

The US yogurt wars are heating up again and about to become even more intense...and Yoplait appears to be one step behind again.

For years the US yogurt market was dominated by Yoplait and Dannon. However, five years ago the US market was fundamentally changed with the emergence of Chobani, which helped usher in the Greek yogurt revolution.

As Greek yogurt mainstreamed growing from 4% of the US yogurt market in 2008 to nearly 45% in 2012, Chobani was transformed a small challenger brands into a $1 billion power-player that is giving Yoplait and Dannon a run for their money.

Dannon reacted with the 2011 launch of its Greek yogurt sub-brand Oikos. Oikos growth has been tremendous, surpassing over $400 million 2012, which is a ~45% growth from its first year sales. Not only was Dannon able to leverage the brand to grow the overall Greek Yogurt segment, but also start winning back some share from Chobani by advertising its superior taste behind a claim that Oikos is preferred 2 to 1 over the leading brand.

On the other hand, more than 2 years later Yoplait is still trying to figure out how to win in Greek yogurt.  Yoplait's initial entry into Greek Yogurt was a bust...as was its first relaunch attempt in 2011. Now Yoplait, which is owned by General Mills, is hoping to make up for lost ground by relaunching its Yoplait Greek yogurt again, this time behind a new formula, packaging and advertising. In it's new TV ads, Yoplait declares that "it's time healthy gets a dose of happy" and carry the tag line "it's time to lick the lid again."

The insight Yoplait is basing its bet on is that American consumers will prefer a less sour Greek yogurt and fruit pre-blended into the yogurt, as opposed to being on the bottom of the container.  I personally, don't buy that this positioning will be enough to catch up to Chobani and Dannon, but it will likely be sufficient to remain relevant in the category.

Meanwhile, as Yoplait focuses on and invests in getting its base Greek yogurt offering right, the yogurt market is about to take its next major transformation - adult yogurts with flavor enhancing add-in. 

• First Pepsi's Quaker unit launched Muller (a new joint venture with a European based yogurt company) that features an extensive line of flavor add-ins.  Expect major marketing pushes behind this product over the next several months

• Chobani's answer was to launch  "Flip" and "Bite" sub-lines.

• Now Dannon is jumping into the game via its recent acquisition of YoCrunch, the market leader in yogurt mix-ins.  YoCrunch features 27 different varieties of mix-ins (though most are geared at kids).  Not only does the YoCrunch acquisition give Dannon instant market share in this segment, but more importantly instant access to critical packaging capabilities that will eventually allow Dannon to bring this innovation to their Dannon brands.

While Yoplait does have a mix-in granola offering...

...its already a step or two behind and is going to have to quickly invest in major innovation to keep its offering competitive. But in all likelihood, Yoplait will be spending the the next few years playing catch up again.  Proof a market leader can never stop innovating or it risks being surpassed.