• by Tanya Gazdik , October 4, 2010

Truvia is launching a multimillion-dollar campaign with the goal of taking the natural sweetener's marketing to the next level, from awareness to an emotional connection.

The product, from Wayzata, Minn.-based Cargill, launched in December 2008 with an education-slanted campaign to explain that the sweetener is made from Rebiana, which is extracted from the leaf of the Stevia plant. The new campaign -- which includes TV, print, digital and social media -- aims to connect with consumers regarding their complicated relationships with food, particularly the sweet stuff.

Four 30-second spots as well as 15-second spots will run nationally on network, cable and digital. Five print executions will run in magazines in the wellness, healthy living, women's lifestyle and women's service categories such as Martha Stewart Living, Food Network, Health, Shape and Family Circle. A social media program also is planned.

The creative focuses on a consumer's relationship with sweeteners, using whimsical tunes and real stores to highlight the choices encountered over the course of the day. It shows what "silly head games" we go through as we make choices about what to eat, says Ann Clark Tucker, Truvia's marketing director.

"It is the conversations we have with ourselves when we look at a piece of cake that we want," Tucker tells Marketing Daily. "We say things like 'I'll run five miles on the treadmill tonight and do 100 situps.' Or we do the 'trade' -- 'if I have dessert I am going to skip dinner.' It is the struggle when 'sweetness' calls our name -- it can be at the office, on a date or out with our girlfriends. This campaign is about understanding that consumer mindset and calling it out and then providing a solution."

The campaign was tested nationally using the bio-sensory measurement tool EmSense, according to Tucker. Emotional and cognitive responses were captured by a sensor-laden headset while a sample audience watched the commercials. Consumers responded positively to the messages -- showing strong likeability and purchase interest scores significantly above the database norm.

The campaign was created by Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago, while Universal McCann, New York managed the media plan.

After only 20 months on the market, Truvia is the No. 3 sugar substitute, with an 8.2% share of U.S. retail sales of the sugar-substitutes category, surpassing Merisant's Equal (aspartame), according to ACNielsen Food/Drug, which tracked mass merchandisers including Wal-Mart for four weeks ending Sept. 4.

In May 2010, Truvia spoonable was introduced to retailers. Currently, there are more than 20 beverage and food products featuring Truvia, including Glaceau Vitaminwater 10 and Vitaminwater zero, Coca-Cola Sprite Green, Kraft Crystal Light Pure Fitness and Breyers YoCrunch 100-Calorie Pack.