Last year, we developed Pumpkin Pie Spice Butter Spread to draw attention to our tub butter business. With continued success in 2017, the product got us featured with other pumpkin-flavored items on attention-getting, end-of-aisle displays and spurred tons of positive media attention.
As we round the corner into 2018, we're ready to hit the ground running (in fact we already have) and are excited for what's in store.
"Bottom line: As the No. 1 brand in butter, we will continue to bring our dairy expertise, consumer insights, innovative products and custom solutions to customers and consumers," says Catherine Fox, marketing director for Retail Butter and Spreads. "In all of dairy, no one is better positioned to win in 2018 than we are."
So what's new for 2018?
Butter packaging, butter website, butter marketing
We're rolling out new, more shoppable packaging that should be on the shelf in March 2018. One of our main design objectives was to create a more intuitive packaging design architecture that allows for an easier shopping experience. We did so through intensive packaging research, which involves a "live" store shopping experience. Importantly, the new packaging:
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Improves shop-ability through stronger branding and more consistent flavor descriptions.
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Enhances our "family portfolio" visually, with a more uniform design across products.
New Ways to Highlight Who We Are
Our farmer-owned roots will now be front-and-center on all packaging. The words "Farmer-owned" are on the front of the package and we're bringing that to life with two photos of actual farmer-owners. We're continuing to use the well-known Maiden image on our packaging, with a few modifications, including making her more front and center to increase visibility.
Driving category and segment growth
We're working to drive category and segment growth in two ways: Launching a new product line and deepening existing ones.
Soft Squeeze Spread will be our fourth platform. We're currently testing this product in limited settings and hope to launch it in mid-2018. So far, consumers are really enjoying it and we're finding they use the product more frequently when it's in a squeezable container.
We're also deepening our tub butter platform with the introduction of Butter with Canola Oil plus Calcium and Vitamin D shipping in April.
We're excited to share a new tub butter commercial which will begin airing in January and run through 2018. We'll be reaching Millennial consumers through a unique blend of TV channels:
The commercial concept has tested well with consumers. What is great about the commercial is that the product is truly the star. It is front and center for nearly the entire commercial, which is hard to do in an entertaining way.
"Butter is Everything"
"…That's the message of our new and improved butter website, which launched in mid-October," says Julie Anderla, director, integrated marketing communications. Designed to be "mobile first," the new site looks great on your phone and can reach more consumers throughout their day.
With a host of new website features – including new recipes, new food and new photos, the website:
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Connects on values
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Showcases quality/dairy expertise
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Demonstrates that we did "simple" before it was cool
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Highlights we care about doing good; we are a brand with character
In summary, as we head into 2018, we know this to be true: Land O'Lakes is the butter expert. Our objective: Bring our butter legacy to life.