As Tastes Change, Yoplait Battles to Regain Yogurt Dominance

In the past few years, Yoplait has been swept under the rug due to the Greek-style yogurt trend, but this week, the company is launching a new content-rich ad campaign for new products to revitalize its image.

Although Yoplait is the leading yogurt brand in the United States, General Mills, which owns the brand, only has 5.7 percent of the Greek-style yogurt market, according to Bernstein Research and AdAge’s E.J. Schultz.

In an attempt to crack that market and expand its consumer base, Yoplait is introducing a 100-calorie Greek yogurt, as well as Yoplait Simplait, made from only six ingredients, and Yoplait Fruplait, which will contain more fruit than other yogurts. Over the next six months, 35 new items will be introduced.

The advertising and content marketing campaign, run by Saatchi & Saatchi, will be seen on television, in print, and online.

“It is an umbrella effort for all Yoplait varieties, including Greek, which debuted in 2010, three years after Chobani rocketed out of the gate,” writes Schultz. “But the emphasis is on re-energizing the Yoplait name, with colorful ads that tout the brand’s many flavors and iconic inverted cup design.”

The Yoplait website is extremely colorful, placing the products front and center. It’s filled with upbeat content, like Gogurt-focused games for kids, as well as a two-week yogurt diet plan, which users can tailor to their own needs.

The site is also filled with recipes, just like the brand’s Facebook. Videos on yoplait.com aren’t just ads — in one, the company profiles a customer on the diet, and another features an interview with a dietician.

The new Yoplait commercials on TV are featuring pictures of the products accompanied by “tweets and Facebook posts from consumers raving about the brand,” says Schultz, which extends the content from beyond the net into viewers’ living rooms.