eople over for dinner. Packing your child’s school lunch box is another one,” she said in Inside Shopper’s flagship article last week. Global leaders using occasions Whole Foods Market and Walmart have become experts at occasion based marketing in the US, with the latter working closely on this with consumer goods giant, Procter & Gamble. For instance, Walmart marshalled together a host of brands, such as Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, and ConAgra, last May to mark the global military event, Armed Forces Day. This “Saluting Heroes Together” concept worked by evoking patriotism in Walmart’s traditional advertising and instore marketing, and also engaged charity initiatives. Brands focused on male care, such as Unilever’s Dove Men+Care range, were promoted instore, and Kellogg’s created custom packaging for Walmart especially for the event. Whole Foods Market has also been using occasion based marketing to promote social causes, such as its ongoing “Share The Buzz” campaign. Last activated instore in June, this concept calls attention to the dwindling US honeybee population and ties into Whole Foods Market’s organic and health-focused positioning. Shoppers were encouraged to help out the honeybee cause by avoiding products that use pesticides, with this supported instore by posters, ceiling signs, and shelf talkers. Consumer brands with organic ethos, such as Kellogg’s cereal subsidiary, Kashi, and General Mills tomato range, Muir Glen, were promoted instore. One store in Providence went one step further by temporarily removing all fruits and vegetables reliant on pollinators from its produce department. This decision cut its selection by more than 50 per cent and was explained to shoppers by signage in the empty produce displays about the honeybee’s plight. Australian occasion innovators While the occasion based marketing trend is less developed in Australia, some notable consumer brands are starting to work with local retailers on interesting campaigns. One good example is Arnott’s “Enjoy A Lighter Lunch” campaign in Woolworths supermarkets, which was implemented in all stores for one month in early 2013. This campaign for Cruskits and Vita-Wheat Lunch Slices used the occasion of “lunch” to target health conscious shoppers and busy Mums who are watching their weight. “We wanted to interrupt the weekly habitual shop and highlight crisp breads as a solution for a lighter lunch,” says Laura Williams, senior account director, 31st Second. To achieve this, the Sydney-based activations agency, which also works on Unilever and Bacardi Lion, created “a complete 360” campaign, said Williams to Inside Shopper. The first step was targeting Woolworths shoppers before they got to the biscuit aisle, with Arnott’s two lunch items instead promoted off location in the fresh grocery section. By installing product stackers along with recipes and topping suggestions, the products were offered to shoppers as low-calorie alternatives to the staple lunchtime sandwich. Canned tuna brand, John West, was also included as a cross-category lunchtime solution, with a tower of cans set up alongside the biscuits as an easy topping suggestion. “It was a great example of Arnotts and Woolworths working together and being aligned on the objectives and strategies that tie into Woolworths’ fresh positioning,” says Williams.