• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, January 8, 2010

Dannon Light & Fit grabbed attention last year with its TV ad showing a young woman voraciously slurping down a whole container of the yogurt in the dairy aisle of a supermarket.

Now the brand has upped the ante: Its new TV spot, from Y&R, features supermodel/TV host/fashion designer Heidi Klum doing the slurping after a workout session, as a somewhat incredulous fellow exerciser looks on.

Like the previous spot, this one makes a direct comparison with "the other leading brand," Yoplait Light, showing the two containers side by side and touting Light & Fit's "irresistible taste" and fewer calories (80 versus Yoplait Light's 100).

But bringing out the big marketing guns has become de rigueur for these two dominant yogurt brands -- and light yogurt lines (along with probiotic lines) are key growth drivers and prime battlegrounds.

Yoplait Light's recent TV ads have included memorable efforts like the "No such thing as a bear sheriff" spot (a woman trying to resist a cake with a bear sheriff motif, being advised by a bakery clerk to ward off temptation via Yoplait Light's 28 tempting flavors) and the "itsy bitsy bikini" spot.

The yogurt category still looks relatively robust, but the recession has slowed its growth. U.S. sales of yogurt/yogurt drinks grew 32% between 2004 and 2009 in food, drug and mass (FDMx) outlets, to reach $4.1 billion, according to Mintel International's latest report on U.S. trends in the category. However, after growing at an average annual compound rate of 6.5% between 2004 and 2008, sales grew just 2.8% last year. (Mintel sales data cited are for 52-week periods ending in August.)

Together, Dannon parent Groupe Danone (also owner of natural/organic brands Stonyfield Farm and Brown Cow) and Yoplait parent General Mills (also owner of Colombo) currently account for 67% of U.S. FDMx sales, Mintel reports.

Groupe Danone and General Mills have been relatively little impacted by private-label yogurts, which saw sales growth of 3.9% but flat market share of 11.6% last year. "Compared with some other food categories, the big national yogurt brands held up well against private label," in part through pricing and incentive moves, says Mintel senior analyst David Browne, who notes that these brands continue to heavily dominate the category's retail "real estate."

However, small, premium brands such as Chobani and The Greek Gods have made some gains against the giants. Sales of these smaller yogurt brands grew nearly 12% between August '08 and '09, grabbing 1.5 share points from Danone and General Mills, according to Mintel.

As a result, Groupe Danone saw modest growth of 1.2% from August 2008-09, to $1.378 billion, representing a 34.2% share (down 0.7%), Mintel reports. General Mills saw category growth of just 0.5%, to $1.354 billion, representing a 33.6% share (down 0.9%).

The marketing heat in the light segment is not hard to grasp.

Yoplait Light dominates, and grew faster than Dannon Light & Fit last year. Yoplait Light's U.S. sales grew by 11.6% from August 2008 to August 2009 to $385 million, bringing that line's sales nearly up to the level of Yoplait original's ($400 million). Last week, General Mills reported that Yoplait Light and Yoplait Delights drove much of the brand's 4% first-half fiscal 2010 U.S. net sales growth (on top of total U.S. Yoplait growth of 16% in 2009).

Meanwhile, Dannon Light & Fit's sales grew by a healthy 5.9%, to $244 million, between August '08 and '09, making this Dannon's largest line, points out Browne. (Dannon Activia sales were $210 million, per Mintel.)

Both companies are also focused on leveraging the combination of light and probiotics. U.S. sales of Dannon Activia Light jumped 20%, to $117 million, between August '08 and '09, and General Mills jumped in with the launch of Yoplait YoPlus Light last September.