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Hillshire to expand beacon-enabled campaign to Jimmy Dean brand


The campaign for American Craft Link Sausages increased purchase intent by a factor of 20 times for those exposed to the messaging, according to Hillshire Brands. Consumers were alerted about American Craft in-store on their personal devices and were given the opportunity to add the product to their shopping list, earn points for engaging with the product, and use coupons. 

?Utilizing beacon technology, the coupon was served to a consumer when they were physically in the store [or] in front of the product, making it easy to redeem,? said Chris Hiland, chief strategy officer at BPN, the agency of record for Hillshire Brands. ?Consumers were also reminded of the product while in store, triggering memory of redeeming the coupon as well as purchasing the product.? 

Chicago-based Hillshire Brands conducted the two-month campaign in partnership with BPN and InMarket, which leverages a beacon network for its Mobile to Mortar marketing platform. The campaign ran from April to June in the 10 largest United States markets. 

Sales gains 
Hillshire said the campaign also drove a 36% increase in brand awareness and an unspecified lift in overall sales. It achieved 6,000 in-store engagements in its first 48 hours, according to a study of the campaign by digital brand measurement company Vizu. 

?Reaching the consumer at the right time and in the right place is ideal to drive sales of a product and overall brand awareness,? Mr. Hiland said. ?Consumers are more receptive to receiving a Hillshire Brands message when closest to the product and in-store, as compared to previous efforts."

He said that geo-targeting for over-saturated categories such as sausages made the product stand out amongst competitors, which is typically hard once individuals are already in the store as they tend to gravitate toward products they are familiar with. 

InMarket said this is the first time that a CPG company has released data about the impact of beacon technology against key brand metrics. 

Following this early success, Hillshire Brands will extend the beacon program to a campaign for new Jimmy Dean lunch and dinner products this fall. Location-based advertising will be a key component for both shopper marketing initiatives and new product launches at Hillshire Brands, Mr. Hiland said. 

?The power of beacon technology is evident in the strong increase in purchase intent that comes from delivering the message when it?s truly meaningful and relevant to the shopper,? said Bill Bishop, chief architect at digital consulting firm Brick Meets Click, Barrington, IL. ?Up to this point it?s been difficult to reach shoppers at some of the most important times on the path to purchase, and beacon technology changes this. 

?The Next step is optimizing the value of the offer to the shopping behavior of each customer.? 

Final Take 
Mark Hamstra is content director at Mobile Marketer, New York