chobani greek yogurt insights and strategy

Prepared by: Josh Crafter, Cheng-en Lee, Li Tang, and Nancy Weickhardt

Prepared for:Dr. James Tsao, Syracuse University; Niel Sandfort, Chobani, Inc

What We’ll Talk About

• The Major Insights– Cultural Insights– Consumer Insights– Product and Competition Insights

• Overarching Insight• Cognitive Map• Media Insights• Quantitative Surveys• Creative Brief

What We Did

• College Students• Conducted Focus Groups• Conducted Quantitative Surveys

Cultural Insights

Research Objectives• Key trends and issues about yogurt• Possible future trends• How the brand Chobani and Greek yogurt are perceived in society.

Research Questions• What are the current trends relating to the consumption of yogurt?• What are potential future trends or issues relating to the consumption of yogurt?• How is yogurt portrayed in the media? • What are cultural perceptions of the brand, Chobani, and its products?

Methodologies • Secondary research, specifically

• Researching how yogurt is portrayed in the media• Researching current diet and health trends

Cultural Insight

Current trends relating to the consumption of yogurt:

• Health trend, eating nutritious foods, high in protein. (Krashinsky, 2012)• Greek yogurt has rapidly increased in sales within the past 6 years.

• Greek yogurt percentage of overall market• 0.7% - 2006• 19% - 2012. (Badkar, 2011)

Potential future trends relating to the consumption of yogurt:

• About 40% of Americans do not consume yogurt.• Yogurt is perceived as feminine. (SodaHead, 2010)

Cultural Insight

Insights The emergence and prevalence of Chobani and the Greek yogurt in recent years has successfully sparked people’s interests into eating them.

A person holding a Chobani cup and eating from it is often perceived as cool and such act reveals the person’s high consciousness on well-being and a possibility he or she belongs to a higher economic status group in the society.

Rationale• Greek yogurt has become trendy because it’s:

- Fairly new product, - Frequently portrayed in current media- Considered exotic and satisfies current health trends.

• Sales of Chobani and Greek yogurts continue to rise -> many traditional yogurt-making brands are now entering this category as latecomers.

Cultural Insight

Consumer Insights

Research Objectives:• Identify behaviors, attitudes and lifestyles• Identify current consumer trends

Research Questions• What changes in behavior and lifestyle have affected sales?• What are the segments of yogurt eaters? Their strengths and/or weaknesses?

Methodology• Predominantly focus group based

Consumer Insight

What Changes in consumer lifestyle and behavior have affected sales?

• Increase in dairy advertising• Nearly $1 billion in measured media spending• 11% of food advertising overall• Consumers are seeing more

What are the existing segments of Chobani consumers? What are the strengths/weaknesses/potential for each segment?

• Yogurt Lovers: Yogurt is an intricate part of their diet and lifestyle• Frequent Yogurt Eaters: Eat often but go from brand to brand• Occasional Yogurt Eaters: They eat yogurt when the mood arises. Flavor dictates all• Non-Eaters: For one reason or another, this segment usually refuses to enter the

yogurt category

Consumer Insight

Focus Group• Not brand loyal• Some use yogurt as a substitute

for other foods• Negative perceptions of

Dannon, Yoplait• No such perceptions for

Chobani

• Two Focus Groups

• October 19th, 2012 & November 2nd 2012

• 13 participants

• 10 female, 3 men

• Predominantly Asian and Caucasian

• Roughly equal split among class rank

• All Syracuse Students

• Convenience sampling

• Varied yogurt consumption

• $10 Starbucks or iTunes gift card for participation

Consumer Insight

Consumer Insight

Consumer Insight:

Because of its high protein content, Greek yogurt provides consumers with a more “filling” experience, unlike other yogurts.

This draws consumers to the product, though not loyally. Negative perceptions of Dannon and Yoplait among the college demographic prevent the brands from establishing brand loyalty, an issue Chobani doesn’t have.

Rationale: • Frequent and occasional eaters offer room for growth• These eaters are unaware of Chobani’s benefits or superior taste• Poor reputation and credibility among its competition

Product & Competition Insights

Product & Competition Insight

Research Objectives:• Explore current perceptions of Chobani products and packaging• Understand competitive advantage• Understand users perception of Chobani vs its competition

Research Questions:• What aspects of Greek yogurt are most appealing?• Is yogurt gender specific?• What are key differences between Chobani and its competitors?

Methodology• Focus groups

Product & Competition Insight

What aspects of Chobani Greek yogurt are most appealing?• Health, “fruity”, “natural”, high protein• Exceptional love towards certain flavors• Plain Greek yogurt (They didn’t like plain)• “It’s healthy for me. I don’t think I’m obsessed with yogurt. The taste is not the

best, but Greek yogurt has a lot of protein.”

Is yogurt gender specific?• Socially perceived as female oriented• Male students don’t feel comfortable eating it in public• Packaging contributing to perception?

What are key differences between Chobani and its competitors?• Young adults more likely to be brand loyal (Frank, 2012)• Community and charitable Image• Reputation

Insight• College students eat Greek yogurt because they believe it is healthy for them,

especially because of its low fat and high protein content. Among Greek yogurt eaters, those who are loyal to Chobani are health-conscious and hold Chobani in a higher esteem than its competitors because of its responsible and ethically profound company culture.

Rationale• Nutrition is important• Chobani has a strong reputation• Consumers respect that reputation

Product & Competition Insight

Overarching Insight

Consumers have negative perceptions of major brands such as Dannon and Yoplait, and consequently, consumers are very apprehensive towards those brands. Chobani doesn’t have this problem because of its reputation and new-ness as a brand, a “clean slate”, if you will.

Chobani lovers show unparalleled loyalty to the brand because they view themselves as part of Chobani’s community and Chobani as a part of their own.

Media Insight

Media Insight

Media Objectives:• Drive awareness among college students• Drive Chobani eaters online to talk about and engage with the brand• Increase followers of brand sponsored social media accounts

Description: • Increase specified use of CHOmobile• College tour• Utilize social events to create positive interaction with students

Media Insight

CHOmobile College Tour

For example:

• Friday, August 24th, 2013 – Syracuse, Move-in weekend for students• Monday, August 27th, 2013 – NYU student orientation• Friday & Saturday, August 30-31, 2013 – Rutgers, Move-in weekend for students• Tuesday, September 4, 2013 – Temple University, Student organization and career

fair

• Ask for a Like or Follow in exchange for a Chobani Greek Yogurt• Allows for interaction then and later• School with most interactions wins Chobani Greek yogurt sponsored concert• Measured through Facebook, Twitter analytics

Media Insight

CHOmobile College Tour

Why is this important?

Chobani lags in consumer awareness, especially among college students• 76% awareness• 48% conversion rate

Dannon and Yoplait suffer from perception issues• Chobani has a “clean slate”• Let keep it that way

Quantitative Survey

Quantitative Survey

Research Objectives:• Explore lifestyles of college students• Explore expectations of diets• Identify the factors that drive purchases

Research Questions:• What is Chobani’s current awareness?• How important is social responsibility?

Methodology• Quantitative Survey

Quantitative Survey

Quantitative survey• 150+ total responses• 74 currently in univeristy• 18 male, 55 female, 1 other

Two surveys• One if they’d purchased Chobani• A different if they hadn’t

Quantitative Survey: Findings

Quantitative Survey

Quantitative Survey: Reason To Purchase

Quantitative Survey

Quantitative Survey: Importance of Nutrition

Quantitative Survey

Quantitative Survey: Community Involvement

Quantitative Survey

Creative Brief

Objective:To persuade the college students that Chobani is more than a brand; it’s a

community. Target Audience:

Emma is a junior in college, and she lives the typical college lifestyle. She does school work all morning and afternoon, has a few meetings in the p.m., and tries to hit the gym at night at least a few times a week. She drinks heavily with her friends on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and she knows she eats fairly unhealthy, though that’s more a product of being on campus all day and never being home to cook. Emma volunteers biweekly at the local soup kitchen on campus, and when she returns home every summer, she does community outreach in conjunction with her city’s child services. Emma likes yogurt, but she doesn’t love it. It isn’t essential to her day like it is for some of her friends. That’s because she harbors negative perceptions about a lot of “big brands”. Emma is looking for something more personal, more cultured, and great tasting that fosters a sense of community as a business and a brand.

Creative Brief

What Does The Target Currently Believe?:They distrust “big brands” because of negative perceptions

What Do We Want Them To Believe?

Chobani is a brand you can proudly associate with Single Minded Proposition:

Chobani isn’t a brand, it’s a community Reason To Believe:

Chobani supports local businesses, initiatives and charities within your community.

Creative Brief

Prepared for:Dr. James Tsao, Syracuse University; Niel Sandfort, Chobani, Inc