Astro Kefir-Based Yogourt: Getting Folks to Try and Buy a New Product

Parmalat Canada

Consumer & Lifestyle

For nearly 140 years, Lactalis Canada (Parmalat Canada Inc.) has been bringing the best of dairy to Canadian families. From milk and cheese, to yogourt and butter, the company makes many of the foods Canadians enjoy every day and have come to rely on as part of a healthy, nutritious and balanced diet.  Proof was brought in to develop an integrated strategy to promote Astro Original Kefir Probiotic Yogourt, the company’s first kefir-based yogourt with probiotics and natural ingredients.

Where Did We Start?

We began with research to understand Canadians’ views on the benefits of natural foods and digestive health.  This equipped us with knowledge and insight into our target audience’s awareness, opinions and needs, which informed all aspects of our campaign.

What Opportunities Did We Identify?

We learned that consumers are interested in eating foods with ingredients they can actually pronounce, and that earned media and influencer partners that aligned with our target consumers would be the best way to reach them.

What Was The Solution?

Proof leveraged many of the research findings as a news hook, acting as a bridge to launch key messaging and storytelling. We amplified the message of “2x the probiotics and natural ingredients” via earned media and a partnership with Daily Hive, a strategic influencer program supported with paid boosting, and broadcast media tour hosted by lifestyle expert Maureen Dennis. We supported the campaign with a mass sampling program in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, featuring eye-catching sampling kiosks at high-traffic transit hubs and roaming street teams to ensure consumers across key demographics got an opportunity to trial the product.

How Did We Do?

The program resulted in +9.5M integrated media impressions, +2M impressions from the influencer program and +3.1M from media partnership. In the sampling field, our efforts resulted in 193,000 samples and 400,000 live impressions across Canada. Brand ambassadors drove product trial and quick education of a kefir-based yogourt amongst consumers who had little to no familiarity with kefir and/or probiotics.