The Yogurt Marketing Battle Goes On

Chobani FB image

A decade ago, Chobani upended the US yogurt market with its innovative, tangy Greek yogurt products. Today, the yogurt market representing nearly $8 billion in annual purchases. However, Greek yogurt growth is plateauing.

All you have to do is check the yogurt display in any grocery store and you'll see how the industry's top competitors are reacting by segmenting the market and adding products/lines for target audiences with different tastes.

General Mills image

General Mills just announced a new line of French yogurts from Yoplait, branded Oui. The idea is to encourage yogurt lovers to try this artisanal yogurt (packaged in glass jars) and, once they acquire the taste, make them loyal customers.

Chobani is expanding into smooth yogurts these days, appealing to a broader audience beyond its loyal fans of Greek yogurt. Danone is expanding its Dannon yogurt production facilities even after selling Stonyfield yogurt to complete the acquisition of White Wave plant-based milks.

The marketing battle includes social media. Chobani has more than 100k Twitter followers and 1.4 million Facebook likes. Yoplait has more than 72k Twitter followers and 2 million Facebook likes. Dannon has more than 25k Twitter followers. Watch for more marketing activities as yogurt marketers try to build market share in this intensely competitive industry.

Greek Yogurt Marketers Compete in the Streets

Chobani--the entrepreneurial company that almost singlehandedly made Greek yogurt into the most popular yogurt in America--wants to know what consumers like and dislike and how tastes are changing. So it opened a cafe in the trendy SoHo section of Manhattan and now tests new flavors and products there.

The cafe sells food but it also doubles as brand promotion: “Everybody who leaves the cafe says they are more likely to buy our product at the grocery store,” says the head of Chobani's marketing and branding. Chobani is high social: With nearly 1 million Facebook likes and 83,000 Twitter followers, Chobani is staying in touch with consumers for a two-way conversation.

Competitors Yoplait (owned by General Mills) and Dannon (Danone) are countering the Chobani cafe with their own pop-up shops and food trucks in SoHo. Yoplait declared a "taste-off" with its pop-up shop, inviting consumers to come in and taste flavors and compare for three days early this year.

Dannon has put Oikos yogurt food trucks on the road to bring a taste of its Greek yogurt to the streets. Naturally, the Oikos trucks prowled SoHo during the same time as Yoplait's pop-up shop was open and the Chobani cafe was serving.

Look at supermarket shelves, and it's clear Greek yogurt has virtually taken over, a huge change from just a few years ago, when it was a niche business. What's next for yogurt marketing?