Bio-K goes with its gut in GTA

Bio-K Plus International has launched a multimedia advertising campaign that aims to educate Ontario consumers, particularly those in the Greater Toronto Area, about its probiotic products.
 
The campaign, developed by Montreal agency Morrow, launched in late February and includes three television spots as well as print and out-of-home creative targeted mainly to GTA residents. The executions comprise the first large-scale marketing initiative that Quebec-based Bio-K Plus has undertaken in Ontario.
 
The television spots highlight specific times of year and circumstances when consumers stand to benefit most from the bacteria found in the digestive aid products. One spot, for example, is aimed at vacationers and depicts a bottle of Bio-K plus sitting in beach sand. Another shows the product sitting on a snow bank.
 
Carla Marques, vice-president of client services for Morrow, said that in addition to educating consumers about when to take Bio-K Plus, her agency was tasked with distinguishing the products from probiotic yogurt brands such as Danone.
 
“The probiotic category is misunderstood by consumers. They think probiotics are all the same and there’s confusion about what’s a yogurt and what’s not, what’s a probiotic and what is not, and what the difference is between Bio-K and a normal yogurt,” said Marques. “We had to make people understand that this product is not a yogurt, that it’s a full probiotic, and that they’re not the same.”
 
Accordingly, print and out-of-home ads feature bottles of Bio-K Plus alongside copy such as, “All probiotic. No yogurt” and “All probiotics are not the same.” The tag line, “It works. Proven,” also appears in these executions, as well as the Bio-K website address, BioKPlus.com.
 
Marques said her client sees the GTA as a potentially lucrative market for a high-end probiotic product.
 
“It represented a great opportunity and there’s a demand for the product, and more of the stores that carry the product are in the GTA as well.”
 
Marques said Bio-K Plus is also planning a U.S. campaign in the coming months.