QUAKER CASE STUDY

Quaker has been in a slow penetration decline for a number of years, facing competition from ‘healthier’ options. 

To compete the brand has to re-establish their health credentials through our core ingredient, 100% Canadian Whole Grain Oats.

SEA OF SAME

We were operating in a category that was awash with ingredients-focused messaging. To hang our hats on a functional oats message would provide us with neither distinction or differentiation.

RELEVANCE

There was a larger problem at the root of our penetration decline - we were an 100 year old brand that had become irrelevant in our target’s lives. Research showed we were trusted but not top of mind. 

BRAND ARCHITECTURE

We were being tasked to communicate across four product pillars (Hot Oatmeal, Harvest Crunch, Chewy and Cookies) that to date had operated independently. There was a missed opportunity to harness the power of our Masterbrand and consolidate our sub-brands under one unifying idea to drive efficiencies.

We proposed investing in Masterbrand communications that would re-establish the brand’s purpose. It was our opportunity to find a more relevant role and to elevate beyond the functional.

We then suggested that this purpose be translated to our four product pillars all supported by a common RTB. The communications would also have the same look and feel to begin establishing a set of distinctive assets that would drive brand recognition.

We conducted in depth consumer, cultural and product research to understand how we could play a relevant role in their lives today. 

What was uncovered was the realization that beyond the obvious ‘parents are busy’ fact, even when there was time left in the day parents reluctantly admitted they were still putting off doing the things that mattered to them in life (spending quality time with family, focusing on their health etc.). 

Not surprisingly the reason for this was a lack of energy both mentally and physically, but this notion of ‘I’ll definitely do it tomorrow’ was what we found interesting. There was a guilt associated with putting these things off that was offset by the promise of tomorrow.

In the past Quaker had focused on energy as their primary product benefit. We knew it was an RTB that was believable to our target but we needed a more relevant role for its use. 

Uncovering this guilt cycle gave us a critical role as the energy they needed to take hold of today instead of putting things off to tomorrow.

Quaker became our parent’s motivator. We embarked on a campaign that said a defiant no to tomorrow, leveraging the power of the Quaker oat to say yes to today.

• 23% increase in past 4 week consumption
• Significant gains in equity with increases in energy, taste, differentiation and affinity (only brand to see gains over that time period)
• +9pt increase in 'offers something different than other brands'
• +9pt increase in 'gives you energy that gets you going'
• +10pt increase in 'is a brand you love'
• +6pt increase in 'is for someone like you'