Will Dannon Be "Punting" on Greek Yogurt?

Yogurt giant Dannon announced yesterday that it will be advertising during the Super Bowl, making it the first yogurt company to do so. SportsBusinessDaily reports the 30-second spot will air during the third quarter of the game and is expected to be just one piece of a fully-integrated campaign.

While the big game may be a new platform, major advertising and promotional spending is nothing new for the major yogurt competitors. According to Brandweek's annual Superbrands report, Yoplait and Dannon each spend in excess of $100 million in measured advertising in 2010.

Going Greek

Health-concious consumers have made aggressive moves towards Greek-style yogurts in the past three years.  According to Mintel, no product trend has had more impact int the yogurt category in a shorter period of time.  Twice as high in protein, Greek brands emphasize natural ingredients and add little or no extra sugar. The category has been dominated by Fage and Chobani while Yoplait and Dannon have struggled to keep pace, partly because of their uber-long ingredient list and their inability to claim to be all-natural or organic.

But don't look for the Super Bowl ad to target the Greek-style category but rather, as Sr. Director of PR Michael Neuwirth says, "communicate a broader effort to get people to eat more yogurt." With such a broad message, Dannon risks "punting" on the Greek-style category and growing the entire yogurt pie instead. Additionally, by possibly focusing on product benefits that are inherent to all Greek-style yogurts, the advertising may succeed at least in boosting the entire Greek category at Dannon's own expense. Fage and Chobani will be thankful.


Source: Mintel