How President's Choice Increased Plant-Based Advertising on Facebook by +283 YoY

Key Takeaways

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Content & Messaging  — Targeting New Vegan Consumers: PC launched two campaigns to advertise their plant-based product line on organic social which targeted consumers who were transitioning to a vegan lifestyle. The “Unexpectedly Plant-Based” campaign focused on product benefits such as how yogurt alternatives contain just as many probiotic cultures as dairy products. On the other hand, the “Nothing to Fear” campaign focused on how plant-based alternatives taste just as good as dairy or meat products.

Content & Messaging  — Educating Consumers Through Recipes: PC aims to educate their consumers and help them transition into a plant-based diet by sharing easy vegan recipes. PC uses Instagram story and Pinterest to post plant-based recipes, where every story links out to their website which contains detailed instructions on how to cook each dish. PC also gave consumers a chance to ask their product development team about their plant-based products in the form of a Q&A via Instagram Story. The PC team answered consumers’ questions about what protein they use, and best substitute products. 

Paid Social Focus  — Facebook Ads: In 2020, PC increased their budget for plant-based advertising by +283% on Facebook ($139K). The top FB campaign generated 36M impressions and featured seven different videos showcasing a different product in each video from cashew dips to protein powders. The campaign also featured a promotional offering where consumers received $10 off for their first 3 orders of $50 or more.

YouTube Ads Tactic  — A/B Testing Copy: On YouTube, PC ran two A/B tests where they tested between copy that advertised “Plant-Based Protein” vs. “Soy & Pea Protein”. This A/B test was implemented on two of their meatless products - beefless strips and chickenless strips. ‍

Paid Search Focus  — Increased Focus on Paid Search: PC went from serving 0 search ads containing plant-based keywords to 96 ads in 2020. Search ads promote vegan recipes, lists out specific product types, and highlights product benefits and incredible taste.

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Search interest for the term “Plant-Based Diet” has seen a significant increase in 2020. Search interest peaked in August of 2020, with a +100% increase MoM.

*(compared to the first half of 2020)

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With an increased search interest for plant-based diets, PC made a shift in their creative strategy from organic to plant-based products in 2020.

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To promote the PC Plant-Based product line, PC utilized three marketing channels: Organic Social, Paid Social and Paid Search.

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Organic Social

PC launched two campaigns for their PC Plant-Based product line in 2020. Both campaigns were cross-posted on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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PC highlights the fact that plant-based yogurt alternatives contain just as many probiotic cultures as compared to dairy for the ‘Unexpectedly Plant-Based” campaign.

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The “Unexpectedly Plant-Based” campaign included seven different creatives with the coconut milk ice cream post receiving the highest volume of engagement.

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The “Unexpectedly Plant-Based” campaign received a -24% lower engagement rate compared to PC’s Instagram benchmark.

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The “Nothing to Fear” campaign aims to target newly vegan consumers as it focuses on how plant-based alternatives taste just as good as dairy or meat products.

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The “Nothing to Fear” campaign included four different videos featuring veggie bites, coconut yogurt, vegan protein chocolate powder and cheesecake.

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The “Nothing to Fear” campaign did not resonate with consumers. Compared to PC’s Instagram benchmark, this campaign received a -63% lower engagement rate.

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PC uses Instagram Stories to educate consumers about their plant-based products and to inspire by sharing vegan recipes.

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On Pinterest, PC aims to educate their consumers by posting various plant-based recipes featuring their products. Each pin directs users to presidentschoice.ca, further driving traffic to the site.

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Paid Social

In 2020, PC increased their budget for plant-based advertising by +283% on Facebook.

*However, only 3% of PC’s total ad spend in 2020 was allocated towards plant-based advertising. PC did not run any plant-based advertising campaigns on display and Twitter.

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The top FB advertising campaign was the “Nothing to Fear” campaign which generated 36M impressions at a CPM of $3.84.

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The “Nothing to Fear” campaign also advertised a promotional offering: “Get $10 off your first 3 orders of $50 or more”.

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The campaign included 7 versions of the video creative, with the Mayo Style Spread video receiving the highest ad spend of $23K.

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On YouTube, PC ran 10 video ads to promote the plant-based line. All videos were 15 seconds in length.

*YouTube ad spend for this campaign is currently unavailable.

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The top performing YouTube ad featured the coconut cheese-style spread and generated 1.8M views.

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PC A/B tested two creative versions: “Plant-Based Protein” vs. “Soy & Pea Protein”.

*The “Plant-Based Protein” video generated a higher volume of views for the beef product while for the chicken ad, the “Soy & Pea Protein” video generated a slightly higher volume of video views.

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Paid Search

PC went from serving 0 search ads containing plant-based keywords to 96 ads in 2020.

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Search ads promote vegan recipes, lists out specific product types, and highlights product benefits and incredible taste.

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