Dive Brief:
- Catalina and Label Insight are cooperating on more precise targeting approaches to help brands better understand, reach and influence consumers who make purchases based on dietary needs, including gluten-free, nut-free and high-protein diets. The service will also target those looking for clean labels, as well as sustainable company practices.
- This partnership will allow brands to more accurately target the customers they desire — like those looking for groceries for gluten-intolerant households — through in-store and online digital advertising and promotions.
- "Consumers are demanding more transparency around the products they buy," Paul Schaut, CEO of Label Insight, said in a press release about the agreement. "This partnership combines our product transparency solution with Catalina’s shopper intelligence, enabling personalized marketing that efficiently matches the right shoppers to the right products."
Dive Insight:
Label Insight, whose clients have included Unilever, Ben & Jerry, Lipton, Knorr and Hellmann's, notes that its technology helped the Food and Drug Administration build the industry’s first scientifically accurate database of food ingredients, attributes and health claims. The company knows how to mine product information for deep insights.
Catalina, which has worked with Kellogg, Betty Crocker, Breyers, Campbell Soup and Pepsi, uses consumer purchase data to target shoppers on a personal basis. This partnership blends Label Insight's significant trove of product data with Catalina's shopper information targeting abilities for those who may be looking for some of these specific emerging categories.
The marketing company can reach more than 280 million U.S. shoppers based on their purchasing history and integrate capabilities from Label Insight's database and analytics on more than 80% of food, pet and personal care items sold in U.S. stores.
Because more consumers are interested in specific diets or cleaner labels, this sort of partnership could prove extremely beneficial. According to Statista, the U.S. gluten free market is worth about $1.77 billion today and is projected to grow to about $23.9 billion in 2020. In recent years, the number of people who have avoided gluten — despite having no medical reason to do so — has more than tripled to about 3.1 million people in 2014. And in the 12 months prior to this May, 22% of new products carried a gluten-free label claim, Innova Market Insights found.
The other markets specifically targeted in this initiative are also opportunities for growth. Allergen-free food is big business today, with FAIR Health reporting a 377% increase in insurance claims related to severe reactions from food from 2007 to 2016. Clean label products are big business too. According to Innova research, 91% of consumers say they believe items with ingredients they recognize are healthier for them.
Connecting these products to the consumers who seek them out can benefit manufacturers and retailers alike. They can also build consumer loyalty, helping lead shoppers to new products that cater to their needs. A recent Label Insight survey found that 75% of consumers said they review food product ingredients to make sure an item will meet their dietary needs. Putting the two data powerhouses together will help call attention to the products with those ingredients to the consumers who seek them.
Shopper targeting has worked wonders for both retailers and manufacturers. Stores that have seen positive results include Kroger, which has 84.51° — its own analytics arm — and Whole Foods, which has worked with data firm dunnhumby.
However, as Retail Dive's consumer survey earlier this year found, shoppers may love discounts and deals, but they want that personalization without having to part with too much personal data. The trick comes in balancing the targeted marketing outreach with consumers' desire for privacy.