• by Karl Greenberg , March 4, 2008

The Dannon Company is pulling the lid off of a new ad push for its Activia brand of yogurt. The new campaign, via Y&R, features actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who talks about digestive woes, and touts Activia as a solution.

One of the spots shows Curtis relaxing on a couch with a newspaper. "First the bad news," she says, showing the headline, and explaining that 87% of Americans suffer from digestive issues like irregularity. "Now the good news," she says, showing a container of Activia. Tag: "Today, for tomorrow."

Jeffrey Rothman, Activia brand director, says the target is primarily women because they suffer from digestive problems more frequently than men. "However, digestive health is an issue that impacts virtually everyone. And, we feel campaign has the power to influence everyone," he says.

Rothman says that in the first phase Curtis helps the everyday person get comfortable with talking about digestive health as she discovers Activia. "In the second phase, she will be actively recruiting real people to submit their 'Activia Story.' It will be primarily executed on TV and online," he says.

He adds that although the campaign will be primarily TV, it will include an Internet component as well as tastings. "If we see the campaigning having the impact we expect, we will explore extending it to other media and other partners," he says.

The company has supported the brand, introduced in the U.S. in 2006, with "The Activia Challenge" a money-back guarantee for those who eat Activia every day for two weeks. That will continue, says Rothman. "In a study we conducted in December 2006, 93% of those who took the Activia Challenge would recommend Activia. So, until we find a better way to get America to try Activia, we will continue to use the challenge as a promotional tool."

For biology buffs, all yogurt is made with at least two cultures: L. Bulgaricus and S. Thermophilus. Activia, per Dannon, is the only yogurt made also with probiotic culture Bifidus Regularis.