Kikkoman Mobilizes For Holiday Season

by Steve Smith, Nov 28, 2011, 10:32 AM

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While traditional holiday retail brands vie for shopper attention on their cell phones this season, one unlikely consumer product manufacturer is looking for love and a long-term connection in the condiment aisle.

Kikkoman is using in-store calls to action tied to simple SMS mobile connections to connect with home chefs. In a campaign launched earlier this month with Hipcricket, the soy sauce maker is promoting itself as a core brining ingredient for the holiday roasts.

Kikkoman has a mobile video for brining; consumers can watch it in aisle 10. In-store creative attached to the soy sauce shelf prompts the consumer to text “brine” to 30333, which pushes back a link to a mobile Web site with a video of the enthusiastic “Helen from Kikkoman” who walks us through the process of brining a bird.

While most holiday chefs don’t identify soy sauce with seasonal American fare, “there is nothing Asian about this turkey,” Helen says. She proceeds to line a refrigerator vegetable bin with plastic, then instructs viewers to immerse a 15-pound gobbler in the Kikkoman-infused brining solution.

The fun in-store attempt to align an unlikely brand with holiday rituals also has a serious longer-term model behind it. The landing page for the SMS push includes offers for coupons via email and a sign-up for continued recipe messages from the brand.

The landing page also allows the user to link to -- and like -- the Kikkoman Facebook page. The campaign is aimed at developing the mobile CRM connection to consumers across platforms. Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer, Hipcricket, says the media plan deliberately offered the user multiple entry points.

“The campaign combines in-store calls to action with email, SMS, mobile Web and video. By giving consumers a choice in how they’d like to interact with Kikkoman, the company is increasing the likelihood of participation and ongoing engagement," says Hasen.

Increasingly, CPG marketers are using the retail store shelves as an important point of entry for engaging consumers with mobile campaigns. “Our retailer customers are using mobile on shelf to provide additional levels of visibility to the "in aisle" shopping experience,” says Doug Stovall, senior vice president, sales and client services, Hipcricket. “We expect this to continue to grow over time.”

The campaign launched in early November and will continue the rest of the year.

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