Strategy of Dannon

Dannon's Oikos is now capturing back sales from Chobani ¹.  They are now using strategies only a big, established player in a market can use. This has proven to be effective: Dannon’s market share is now gone up to 30% (from basically nothing), while Chobani has lost about 10%. Danone is also trying to expand the category by partnering up with Starbucks. Starbucks will start to offer Dannon’s Greek yoghurt soon in their cafes . "Yogurt has the healthy halo that everyone is looking for these days," says Mintel researcher John Frank. "The competition for Greek yogurt right now is fruits and vegetables. And it’s more fun than eating vegetables." ².

The effectiveness of Dannon’s strategy of fusing John Stamos in their commercials can be discussed. I am reading that some consumers automatically connected the Greek yoghurt to Chobani – not realizing it was a commercial for Oikos. Chobani has without a doubt had a great advantage being the first on the market: some people do automatically connect the Greek yoghurt to Chobani because this is the brand they know. Like Courtney Bosch writes: “if someone doesn’t even remember the name of your product—or confuses your product with another brand—then how effective was it to shell out big bucks on a big name celebrity?” ³.  Connecting Stamos more to the brand Dannon is maybe a thing they could have done better.

However, today, Chobani represents the Nike of the yoghurt category in the U.S for most consumers ². This means that Dannon has to use their size to their advantage and win back customers by cutting prices. Price is the most important factor, ahead of flavor, when purchasing Greek yogurt, according to Mintel. As it stands today, Oikos is the fastest-growing brand in the Greek segment, and there is still enormous growth-potential ⁴. Dannon is now also using MIcheal Symon on the Food Network to promote the yogurt as a cooking-ingredient. Dannon is also doing test publications in Mens Health magazine to promote the high protein message.

Cécile Vendeville

1: http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2013/08/28/Danone-Greek-Yogurt-Resurgence-082813.aspx

2: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-26/danone-finds-yogurt-s-all-greek-as-oikos-chases-chobani.html
3: http://www.mpdailyfix.com/john-stamos-or-a-greek-yogurt-brand-name-which-one-did-i-remember/

4: http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Manufacturers/Dannon-Oikos-still-fastest-growing-brand-in-Greek-yogurt-segment-with-sales-topping-400m-in-2012