19 Apr Media Is Storytelling
“A beautiful earned story is as important as a TV ad is, as important as a community event. They’re all storytelling,” described Chobani’s Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, Peter McGuinness.
Chobani is revitalizing its brand marketing efforts with simply unpaid press exposure. Chobani was featured on ’60 Minutes’ shortly after a release of an extensive story in Fast Company, a media brand that inspires readers to think beyond traditional boundaries, both outlets that are not traditional advertising and both which Chobani did not pay for. “ [This is] a big part of how we’re getting our message out and our narrative is earned”.
Most likely, Chobani’s communications team did do an outreach campaign to various journalists for exposure on their ‘brand refresh’ to plant the seed, but that can be as easy as a social media post. Again, no dollars spent.
Chobani is now the top brand spot in U.S. yogurt, surpassing its longtime competitor Yoplait. That is a huge success for the Greek yogurt marketers. “We’re shining a spotlight on what this company has always been about, which is food bringing us together”.
The privately owned company plans to partake in at least fifty community events in New York and Idaho where a ‘ChoMobile’ will be stationed at stores with product giveaways and samplings. The new branding work was directed by Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Be Kind Rewind”) and features fruit made instruments with Choabni employees singing, “What the World Needs Now is Love.” A spot focused on healthy foods unifying a community.
Chobani’s new brand movement proves that earned media is an important as paid media and one is not inadequate to the other. Promotional efforts can be just as affective as paid media advertising. As the increased use of earned media is converging traditional methods of marketing, companies are investing in the change. If all marketing methods inevitably are storytelling, wouldn’t it make the most sense to go with the most cost effective?