Cheez-It attracts U.K. snackers with an omnichannel strategy powered by retail data

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE 

Building brand awareness in a new market 

Global food company Kellanova wanted to launch its popular Cheez-It snack in the U.K. market but faced the challenge of entering a new territory with a highly competitive snack category. 

To support the launch, Kellanova and its agency, Dentsu, implemented an omnichannel retail media campaign designed to drive brand awareness. By leveraging retail data, the company was able to tap into insights about existing snack buyers. While retail data is often associated with driving direct response purchase outcomes, this campaign sought to demonstrate its additional value by measuring brand sentiment for a product entering a new market. 

Kellanova and Dentsu turned to The Trade Desk to activate premium retail data across digital channels, unify campaign execution at scale, and benefit from optimisation recommendations and measurement tools through our platform. 

SOLUTION 

Leveraging a retail data-powered omnichannel strategy 

Kellanova built its campaign strategy around retail data, using insights from Tesco — the U.K.’s largest supermarket chain — through its data partner, dunnhumby. This allowed them to target several key groups: people who hadn’t bought snacks recently, cheese lovers drawn to the product’s unique flavour, and adventurous shoppers open to trying new things. They also reengaged existing Cheez-It customers who had purchased the product when it first launched. 

The brand leveraged these strategies in an omnichannel campaign on our platform, spanning across display, online video (OLV), and connected TV (CTV). The unified identity solution, Identity Alliance, enabled the brand to reduce overexposure to its target audience. Through an integrated identity approach, Kellanova was able to more holistically manage reach and frequency. 

RESULTS 

Measuring brand health with retail data and an AI-powered platform 

To demonstrate the value of its investment on retail data and measure brand sentiment, Kellanova used our marketplace of objective measurement solutions and partnerships to conduct a brand lift study — here is what it found. 

Consumers exposed to the ads showed a 29-point increase in brand consideration during the campaign — 9 points above the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) vertical average. For those who saw the ads, their familiarity with the brand rose by 16 points, signalling a successful introduction into a new market. Most interestingly, brand preference increased by 10 points, which showed a growing inclination to choose the Cheez-It brand over competitors and an increase in brand awareness within a crowded category. 

The use of Identity Alliance to control how often the target audience saw their ad resulted in a 40% frequency savings rate, meaning nearly half of the potentially wasted impressions were avoided. These unlocked media efficiencies allowed Kellanova to reinvest and reach an additional 3 million unique users. 

The campaign proved that, when executed at scale across multiple digital channels, retail data- and identity-led optimisations can help boost brand perception efficiently — even in a new and competitive environment. 

Want to learn how to activate a retail media campaign for the launch of a new product? Contact us or reach out to your account manager at The Trade Desk today.