A Case Study Which Combines Sell-In to Sell-Thru Food & CPG Experience with Re-Launching a Legacy Brand.
We’ve chosen to feature the Sunbelt Bakery brand from McKee Foods because the brand’s history, values, and challenges are remarkably similar to Feltman’s Hot Dogs.
Much like Charles Feltman introduced the world’s first hot dog from his Coney Island pie cart in 1867…
…another young entrepreneur named O.D. McKee began selling 5-cent snack cakes from the back of his 1928 Whippet at the height of the Great Depression.
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
The granola bar category is stagnant and loaded with long-standing, large national brands like Nature Valley, Quaker, Kashi, and a bevy of new brands like Kind, Udi’s, and private label brands.
Sunbelt Granola bars were a brand in decline with spotty, national distribution, and a low-quality, low-price image. Sunbelt was considered generic or “store brand” level.
Our challenge was to help re-position the brand and profitably grow market share.
STRATEGIC INSIGHT
Johnson Group and Sunbelt Bakery’s brand team re-positioned and re-launched the brand as the granola with bakery-fresh taste and no preservatives. Through a risky category paradigm shift, we laid claim to this bold idea:
The only granola bars delivered fresh weekly—like bread or milk.
To highlight this differentiation, Bakery was added to the Sunbelt name.
Old
NewResults
For the first time, Sunbelt Bakery is now the number one selling granola bar in several key markets and commands a retail price higher than Quaker.
In every market where we advertised, market share increased in relation to the advertising.
CREATIVE SOLUTION
RETAIL DISTRIBUTION
Working with Sunbelt Bakery’s team, we developed a key retailer list to target for new distribution.
The mailers below were used to successfully gain appointments and distributions.
Shaped like a giant Sunbelt Bakery Protein Delight bar, this mailer delivered a bold taste test against the top competitors.
To introduce the unique Carrot Cake flavor, we created a unique mailer with samples.
OUTDOOR
IN-STORE DISPLAY
Floor displays prove to be the single most efficient way to increase sales. And, when they’re uniquely designed to communicate the brand message, they increase sales even more.
CONTENT MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA
Johnson Group created a content marketing plan featuring the Fresh Baked Takes blog.
The blog became the content hub that allowed the brand to capture and own its social media audiences through their interactions with content customized for each social medium.
