12 problemsolved { case study }

BY PIET LEVY//STAFF WRITER

 plevy@ama.org

Snack Attack
Diamond Foods targeted ads to grocery executives for the first time to grow its
young snack business

The Problem: soning banner ads on the Supermarket evoked the company’s fall 2009 Feed Your
For most of its 98-year history, San Fran- News site that garnered few clicks in favor Fingers consumer campaign. It read:
cisco-based Diamond Foods Inc. was best of placement in e-newsletters, where they “Feeding Their Fingers Means Feeding
known as the manufacturer of the culinary found more favorable click-through rates, Your Register.”
nuts brand Diamond of California. But in says Mary Tarczynski, senior vice president Diamond and Mars also modified the
recent years, the business took new steps. and general manager for Mars’ Oakland, look of the ads during the campaign. At
It launched the Emerald Calif., office. the campaign’s start, images of Diamond
snack nuts brand in 2004 From a creative standpoint, Diamond products were centered against a red back-
and went public in 2005. wanted to send a message conveying its ground. Later versions positioned the
It acquired the Pop Secret profitability and brand growth, Tokusato products askew amid a showering hail of
microwavable popcorn says. Copy for the first ad, with the head- nuts, potato chips and popcorn pieces in an
brand from General line “Diamond Rings,” read: “We’re effort to be more active and eye-catching,
Mills in 2008, and then constantly investing in the future: build- Tarczynski says.
the Kettle Brand line of ing premium brands, introducing award- “We tried to have a visually clean
potato chips from Lion winning products for active, healthy campaign, something simple, almost
Capital in 2010. lifestyles and delivering one-of-a-kind elegant,” Tokusato explains. “We know a lot
To promote the young flavors with on-the-go convenience. It’s all of information is projected at these retail-
snack lines in its busi- combining to help make registers ring— ers. We looked at the creative out there and
ness, Diamond created which is a sound we all love to hear.” thought a focused, clean, simple approach
its first trade advertis- Later ads backed up copy points with would stand out.”
ing campaign target- concrete figures. An ad with the headline
ing grocery executives “Crunch the Numbers” said that Diamond Metrics:
“to make sure the retail had received seven awards for product The trade campaign contributed to a 300%
trade understood who innovation during the last year and that increase in website traffic upon its launch
Diamond Foods of 2009 it was growing 20 times faster than the in fall 2009, Tokusato says. For fiscal
and 2010 was,” says Craig snack nut category. In other cases, copy year 2010, when the ads ran, snack sales
Tokusato, vice president described recent marketing campaigns or were approximately $321 million, a 70%
of marketing. Diamond’s business deals to make them more rele- increase. For the fiscal period ending Sept.
hope was that trade ads vant, which Tokusato says increased odds 4, 2010, Tokusato says Emerald volume
would provoke consid- that the ads would resonate with the increased 44% in U.S. groceries and Kettle
eration from retailers grocery execs. One 2010 ad promoting Brand volume increased 14%. Based on the
who weren’t carrying the Kettle ran the week Diamond completed success so far, Diamond continues its trade
company’s full line of its purchase of the brand. Another ad advertising efforts. m
snack products and lead
to better shelf placement,
distribution and in-store
marketing support from COMPANY DIAMOND FOODS INC.
retailers already doing
business with Diamond.
HEADQUARTERS SAN FRANCISCO

The Fix:
Diamond collaborated DATE OF CAMPAIGN AUGUST 2009 TO JULY 2010
with Southfield, Mich.-
based shopper marketing BUDGET LOW SIX FIGURES
agency Mars Advertising
Inc. in June 2009, with METRICS INITIAL 300% INCREASE IN WEBSITE TRAF-
the campaign debuting FIC; SNACK SALES INCREASED BY 70%; U.S.
about three months later. GROCERY VOLUME FOR EMERALD BRAND
Thanks to Mars’ previ- INCREASED BY 44%; KETTLE BRAND VOLUME
ously conducted media INCREASED BY 14%
survey of retail trade
publications, Diamond FISCAL YEAR 2010 REVENUE $680 MILLION
elected to advertise in
Supermarket News and in e-newsletters
FISCAL YEAR 2009 REVENUE $571 MILLION
distributed by the Grocery Manufacturers
Association and Food Marketing Institute.
marketingnews02.28.11

Approximately 10 print and 20 digital ads AGENCY PARTNER MARS ADVERTISING INC., SOUTHFIELD, MICH.
ran during fiscal year 2010, primarily from
August 2009 through April 2010. Through-
PROJECT STAFF 8 (2 FROM DIAMOND, 6 FROM MARS)
out the campaign, Mars and Diamond
modified the digital placement strategy
based on click-through rates, such as jetti- Sources: Diamond Foods Inc.; Mars Advertising Inc.

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