LU Biscuits Seeks Out Stylish Samplers at Fashion Week: Q&A
LU Biscuits has been working the crowds at events that cater to the affluent and stylish, like the U.S. Open and Fashion Week. The chic, distinctive biscuits have been placed on downy pillows at fine hotels and its print ads run in Vanity Fair and Broadway playbills.
The French biscuits are promoted as exquisite and made with fine ingredients—with price tags to match. In November 2007, Kraft Foods purchased the 150-year-old brand, founded in Europe where sales are strong, as part of the larger Group Danone’s global biscuit business for $7.2 billion. Since then, the company has worked to broaden U.S. awareness of LU, which has a strong foothold in the Northeast and on the West Coast. U.S. sales (excluding Wal-Mart) for the latest 52 weeks ending Aug. 9 were $4 million, about flat with sales for 2008, according to market research firm Information Resources, Inc.
Sampling cafés are up and running this week at both Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week—for the second year—and the U.S. Open, offering up a combined 121,000 samples over the course of the events, which are handled by promotion marketing agency Pierce.
Also at Fashion Week, a limited edition LU Crème Roulee Rolled Wafers tin designed by fashion designer Erin Fetherston is on display and available exclusively at www.amazon.com/lu.
Stephen Chriss, director of consumer and customer engagement at Kraft Snacks, talks about how the U.S. marketing plan has been unfolding.
PROMO: How has Fashion Week been going?
CHRISS: It is a big stage. It’s the right audience for a premium brand and the café gives us the opportunity to talk up the French Parisian history that the brand is all about.
PROMO: How do you determine the success of sponsored events?
CHRISS: There are a handful of factors that we look at: sales is at the top of the list, followed by consumer engagement, the number of samples we can distribute, the level of engagement with the audience and several other factors. We wouldn’t be back if we weren’t happy with how things went last year.
PROMO: What is the strategy behind the exclusive packaging deal with fashion designer Erin Fetherston?
CHRISS: The tin reinforces what the brand is, that European and French history, the stylish chic little biscuit in our messaging. Erin is a great ambassador to deliver that message. The partnership gives a contemporary modern twist to LU by not only promoting the tin to consumers in the tent, but we also drive them to purchase it. It reinforces that link to style in the fashion community with what we’re tying to do with the brand.
PROMO: Why is the tin not available at retail?
CHRISS: Amazon is increasing their sales of food. It’s just a unique way for us to stay on track with the way the world is changing and going more digital.
PROMO: Kraft purchased LU in November 2007, is the café part of a broader strategy to grow the business in the U.S?
CHRISS: Yes. Linking to signature events and big stages is a perfect fit for LU. Events like Fashion Week and the U.S. Open are stages with the right audience that gives us the opportunity to reinforce our messaging and drive trial through sampling.
PROMO: What will you do next?
CHRISS: More of what we’re doing right now. We’re feeling good and we’re bullish about the brand. We will continue to drive print in clever and focused ways and conduct targeted sampling. We’ll use that as our foundation as we build out our 2010 plans. We will do things that are clever and innovative.
