• by Les Luchter , 2 hours ago

A month ago, upstart baby formula brand ByHeart launched a paid campaign, “The Formula That Answers.”

In ads like this :30 spot and other online, social, programmatic and influencer marketing platforms, parents asked such questions as “Can he sense my fear?,” “Do babies hold grudges?” and “How do I know when he's full?”

“Raising kids raises enough questions,” the brand answered. “That's why we make one formula that feels right right away… You'll wonder about everything except this. ByHeart, the formula that answers.”

Now, during a week-long period starting Oct. 6, ByHeart is determined to answer all those other questions. Three celebrity endorsers have been tapped for that task.

The brand has launched a 24/7 text hotline at YOUUP (or 96887, for those who prefer to text by numbers), where the celebs/parents -- singer Lance Bass (NSNYC), NBA player Trae Young (Atlanta Hawks) and reality TV star Mayci Neely (“The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”) -- provide answers via videos.

How many answers, Marketing Daily asked?

“The hotline combines bespoke video replies to selected questions recorded by the talent during the activation window,” ByHeart’s marketing team answered in an email interview, “plus a prepared library that covers the most common new-parent topics (sleep, feeding myths, bottle prep, etc.). We’ll prioritize personalized responses and supplement with the library to ensure timely answers.”

The hotline is being promoted via paid social/retargeting, and through posts on both the celeb’s social channels and ByHeart’s owned channels, all prompting parents to text “QUESTIONS.”

“It’s our most integrated effort to date: a single idea spanning paid, owned, earned, and an interactive,” the brand boasted.“Message-wise, it crystallizes our brand promise — ‘one formula, all-in-one benefits, zero compromise’ — while meeting parents where the anxiety actually happens (late-night questions).”

While the hotline ends next Monday, the broader campaign will continue through year’s end, ByHeart says.

The marketing team says campaign effectiveness will be measured by:

• Brand awareness and impact (earned coverage and mentions, sentiment, branded search and site lift, and list growth)
• Engagement and utility (hotline opt-ins, total texts, completion rates, and percent of questions addressed)
• Attention and efficiency (video views, VCR, CTR/CVR, cost-per-engaged-view, talent-driven reach).
• Commerce signals: (retailer product detail page traffic and basket add, DTC subscriptions, code redemptions).

ByHeart, which launched in 2021, is sold both D2C (its own website and Amazon) and in some 12,000 retail locations, including Target, Walmart, Whole Foods and Kroger.

Competing against market leaders like Abbott’s Similac and Mead Johnson’s Efamil, ByMarket distinguishes itself by stressing such differences as offing only one formula instead of multiple variations, having a formula “closest to breast milk, and having conducted one of the largest clinical trials for any formula in the past 25 years., showcasing such benefits as easy digestion, less spit up, and softer poops .

Creative for the “The Formula That Answers” was developed with the Schaff agency.