Chobani, a brand largely credited with sparking America's recent obsession with Greek yogurt, plans to expand its brand reach even farther with its first-ever Super Bowl ad appearance in 2014.
“Our debut in the Super Bowl provides us with a highly visible and impactful way to more broadly introduce Chobani to America and is consistent with our mission of providing better food to more people,” Chobani CMO Peter McGuinness said in a statement sent to Adweek this morning. “The ad and activation surrounding it will also serve as the unveiling and articulation of our brand platform and point of view.”
The brand says its Super Bowl spot will mark the debut of a new integrated campaign by Droga5 (which won the client in a highly competitive pitch earlier this year), with support from Omnicom Media Group and PR agency Weber Shandwick.
Not even a decade old, the brand has shown itself willing to make bold marketing moves, such as becoming an Olympic sponsor in 2012 and rolling out its first-ever national TV spot during the opening ceremonies. Now the New York-based dairy upstart is paying upward of $4 million for the chance to go head-to-head with Dannon's Oikos line of Greek yogurt, which is returning as a Super Bowl advertiser for the second consecutive year.
Dannon and fellow yogurt giant Yoplait quickly began mounting a marketing and retail blitz when they saw the rapid expansion of Chobani from its unassuming launch in 2007 to a market leader in 2012. This summer, a year after noting Chobani's rise to become the top consumer-preferred yogurt brand, the Harris EquiTrend poll found that Yoplait had finally surpassed Chobani in brand perception and purchase consideration among yogurt brands, though Chobani held on to the No. 2 slot and kept its lead over Dannon and Dannon-owned organic brand Stonyfield Farms.
To help win back some of its previous momentum, Chobani will likely use the Super Bowl spot to promote its new 100-calorie product line, which is one area where Dannon and Yoplait have enjoyed an early lead. "This is a consumer we've been missing for the last six years," CEO Hamdi Ulukaya recently told the Associated Press.