• by Tanya Gazdik , Staff Writer, April 29, 2015

Digital and mobile have fundamentally changed the way shoppers are engaging with brands, says Lori Anderson, Whitewave Foods Co. social marketing manager.

There is a new path to loyalty, Anderson says. Engage, advocacy, discover, explore, buy are in a cyclical, repeating cycle.

Advocacy is one of the most powerful elements and digital touchpoints really dominate. Eighty-four percent use digital resources to seek relevant information regarding to shopping activities. The top uses of mobile devices in 2014 are social network sites and social network apps, taking 35% and 32% respectively. That's up 5% and 4% since 2012.

WhiteWave rallies around what the company calls the "seasons of mom" which include holidays and events that are important to a female shopper including back to school, end of school, etc. Her mindset is planning two weeks ahead for each and her emotional mindset changes throughout the year.

Fifty-three percent of traffic to brand sites is via mobile and tablet.  The brand has incresed profile completion from 12% to 91% by reducing the number of questions asked, Anderson says.

To launch Silk Cashew milk, the company sent free product to its most loyal brands. It only took six hours for the offer to be fully claimed. and the CTR survey completion was 94%.

Shopper advocacy is a big push this year, she says. The company has been working with BzzAgent and WhiteWave has partnered with over  41,000 agents with a reach of 7.4 million.

Sixty-two percent of WhiteWave's seach traffic is mobile, 92% of paid social is mobile. Mobile investment is 13% of WhiteWave 2015 digital campaigns.