Shopper Innovation Awards: Loblaw and ConAgra get hungry for football

This story appears in the May 2015 issue of strategy.

Bronze: Custom Retail

For the Super Bowl last year, ConAgra’s goal was to take the occasion beyond snacks. Loblaw also wanted to build national awareness and penetration for its new PC Plus loyalty program, as well as increase shopping trips and grow shoppers’ basket size.

ConAgra had historically executed price promotions that were focused on snacks during the Super Bowl at Loblaw stores. Through research, ConAgra identified an untapped occasion called “homegating,” which saw people getting together to enjoy meals during the actual game.

So the company partnered with Loblaw to launch two innovative, meal-solution displays for its Aylmer Accents salsa and Manwich & Buns Sloppy Joe products, which could be enjoyed on game day. The “Hungry for Football” program was created, with ConAgra’s shopper marketing team working with the Loblaw loyalty team to find ways to connect shoppers to PC Plus.

The program kicked off in early January with a double-page national FSI to eight million households. It featured three “Hungry for Football” recipes to inspire “homegating” meals and also featured Loblaws CityMarket and Superstore banners to drive store visits. ConAgra and Loblaw offered additional loyalty points for the purchase of ingredients for the game day recipes. In addition, recipe books were included on in-store displays.

“Hungry for Football” delivered strong results with $1.6 million POS sales over four weeks. The program also helped grow unit and dollar consumption by 30% and 20% across participating ConAgra brands.

Credits:

Advertisers: ConAgra and Loblaw
ConAgra team: Sara Gunn, Laura Panetta, Adam Kennedy, Mike Maccarone, Craig McCulloch, Dave Tielemans,  Ryan Fowler
Loblaw team: Shelley Tangney, Melissa D’Amico, Christine Sousa, Katie Clark, Doug Boylin, James Cottendon, Stephen MacPhee
Agency: Blammo