A slowing market means more ads coming for a hungry yogurt brand
Seeing some softness in the fat-free yogurt category, Danone has revamped its flagship yogurt product Silhouette with new packaging and a new formulation.
The Montreal-based company has also added a Greek yogurt product to the Silhouette line, Danone’s second biggest brand behind Activia.
“It’s been a complete revamp,” said Danone’s Montreal-based marketing director Catherine Fortier of the new-look product, which is now aspartame- and gelatin-free with no artificial flavours or colours. “Anything you can think of, we’ve redone or are in the process of re-doing.”
Silhouette is targeted primarily at women 35 and older, whom Fortier said take a different approach to weight management than younger women. Women in this age group are less concerned about losing weight at all costs, and are instead seeking to strike a balance between eating properly and eating enjoyably.
Fortier said that “consumer co-creation” played a key role in the Silhouette revamp. During focus group meetings with women in Toronto and Montreal, Danone gathered insight into their preferences on factors including texture and taste, and used that knowledge to develop concepts that it tested and refined in Quebec and Ontario.
The multinational company also worked with crowd-sourcing company Eyeka to come up with new package designs that were implemented by Montreal agency Pigeon Branding + Design. “We got some very interesting input from that process,” said Fortier.
Danone is already a major player in the Greek yogurt category through its Oikos brand, but Fortier said that Silhouette determined it could fill a void among consumers who wanted Greek yogurt taste and texture without the calories. “With everything we had learned from consumers about their needs, we determined there was a definite gap in the market today,” she said.
The revamped Silhouette products will be available nationally and supported by a new TV campaign developed by Montreal’s Saint-Jacques Vallée Y&R as well as additional PR and shopper marketing by food and health marketing agency Enzyme. Media for Danone is handled by Havas.
While the creative concept has been finalized, materials still being completed, said Fortier. Danone plans to put “significant” weight behind the revamped product, which has not been heavily promoted since 2010, according to Fortier.
Silhouette is currently the second-ranked weight management yogurt brand behind Yoplait’s Source brand. “The category has slowed down in the past year,” said Fortier. “We were not so happy with the performance, so obviously this whole revamp and extension of the [Silhouette] line is a testament that we believe in the brand and want to see it succeed.”
