FDBusiness.com

FrieslandCampina UK has launched Optiwell, a healthy new kind of yogurt drink for adults, with a £25 million marketing campaign. Optiwell is primarily aimed at the UK and Ireland’s three million health-conscious women aged 25 to 40 as a delicious and refreshing alternative to unhealthy snacks and drinks. It has no added sugar, contains only 64 calories per 200ml glass, and is fat-free.

It will be available from September in 330ml on-the-go and 1-litre in-home formats, in strawberry & raspberry, and peach & apricot flavours made with natural fruit juices. The 330ml bottles will include a price-marked-pack (PMP) option. Retailers will be able to buy Optiwell through both ambient and chilled chains for sale in chilled fixtures. Listings have been secured across the UK and Ireland in major multiples as well as key convenience retailers.

This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby (pictured above) will be the Optiwell brand ambassador because of her appeal to the target audience and huge popularity. Her 1.3 million Facebook fans and 6 million Twitter followers, whom she will tell about Optiwell, reflect this. She also presents Surprise Surprise and Play to the Whistle, and is a team captain on Celebrity Juice.

The marketing campaign, with an “Optiwell. Thank Goodness” tagline, will see FrieslandCampina UK invest £25 million over four years. It will reach 18 million health-conscious women through national advertising including outdoor, women’s press and online. The core elements of the campaign include digital activity to raise awareness and audience reach, sampling to encourage consumer trial, as well as shopper marketing activity to drive interest at point of purchase.

Tracey Barney, Managing Director of FrieslandCampina UK, says: “Optiwell has an important role to play in the market. It will appeal to the millions of women who are looking for a healthy and refreshing alternative to unhealthy snacks and drinks. The backing of a leading dairy company like FrieslandCampina will allow it to become a valuable, established brand in the UK. As a delicious healthy yogurt drink aimed at adults, it will create a new, dairy-based sub-category.”

Analysis by FrieslandCampina UK found an unmet demand for healthy options, and yogurt in particular. In the UK it discovered that 70% of UK consumers are unsatisfied with the range of healthy choices available, creating headroom for a new product. 50% of adult yogurt consumers are interested in on-the-go formats that are easier to consume. However, just 6% of yogurt consumers currently have yogurt as a snack when on the move, according to Mintel, suggesting a substantial gap in the market.  55% of Optiwell purchases are expected to be incremental, meaning they will be in addition to existing purchases rather than substitutes.

FrieslandCampina UK is the part of Royal FrieslandCampina, one of the five largest dairy companies in the world with annual turnover of €11.4 billion. It is owned by a co-operative of 19,000 dairy famers. In the UK and Ireland, the company is best known for YAZOO flavoured milk, which was launched nearly 30 years ago and is enjoyed by 2.3 million households per year, according to Kantar research in June 2015.

The launch of Optiwell in the UK follows the success of the Optimel brand in the Netherlands, and the Optiwell brand in Germany. A range of products are sold under these brands including spoonable yogurts and desserts, and drinkable yogurt in the Netherlands.