Haribo’s Integrated Campaign
Author: Elizabeth Korda
Digital Advertising: Summer 2020
Part 1: Brand and Current Media Presence
Brand Background: History, Product/Services, Competitors
After World War I, in 1920, Haribo was started in Germany by a man named Hans Riegel. He founded HARIBO (HAns Riegel BOnn) on December 13, 1920 and launched his “sweets production at a home kitchen with nothing more than a sack of sugar, a marble slab, a stool, a stove, a copper pot and a rolling pin. His wife Gertrud [became] the company’s first employee in 1921” (Haribo, 2020). In 1922, the dancing bear gummi was invented by Riegel. 1923 marks the year that Haribo gets a company car on which to print ads on and deliver candy with. In 1925, liquorice was produced for the first time. Over the years, the company keeps growing and Haribo starts producing the teddy bear, along with the dancing bear designs. In 1945, Hans Riegel, the founder of the company, died and in 1946, his sons, Hans and Paul, took over the company. In 1960, gold bears were born! 1962 marks the first year Haribo advertises on television. In 1982, Haribo arrived in the United States in a small office in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2015, Haribo established US headquarters in Rosemont, IL, after starting in Maryland in 1982. 2018 marks the year that Haribo becomes America’s #1 gummi brand: “consistent quality, fun flavors, and innovation loved by gummi fans nationwide” (Haribo, 2020). Last year, 2019, Haribo debuted their “first-ever micro-binge series, Chewy Channel”, first streaming network to build on the playful reputation of Haribo through classic tropes of television and streaming platforms (Haribo, 2020). 2020 Haribo will celebrate its 100th anniversary on December 13, 2020: “moments of childlike happiness for gummi fans of all ages” (Haribo, 2020).
Currently, Haribo produces fruit gummies, liquorice, marshmallows, and fruit chews; there are around 1000 different gummy designs (Haribo, 2020). Since Haribo has been around for awhile, its two major competitors are the Ferrara Candy Company and Mars, which have also been around since 1907 and 1930, respectively (Ferrara, 2020) (Mars, 2020) (Owler, 2020). While Ferrara and Haribo are producing gummi and liquorice products neck to neck, most Mars products consist of chocolate and not so much of gummi products, but it is still considered a competitive company because of its loyal consumer base.
Analysis of Current Media Presence
Search Rankings
In order to rank these effectively, I opened a private window in my Firefox browser and inserted my first key phrase: best gummy candy. The first thing that popped up was Haribo #1. Next, was Trolli #2. Sour Patch Kids #3. Life Savers Gummies #4. Swedish Fish #5. Albanese #6…it ranked 16 candy brands (The Best Gummy Candy Brands). Ferrara Candy Company owns the Trolli brand, ranked #2, and the Black Forest brand, ranked #7. Mars, who owns Life Savers, ranked #4. After I completed my first search, I opened an additional private window and entered my next key phrase: best gummi bears. Albanese Gummi Bears ranked #1. Haribo ranked #2 and Black Forest Gummy Bears ranked #3 (Ferrara Candy Company) (Best Gummy Bears: Top 5 Brands). Lastly, I entered the key phrase: best fruity candy. Skittles, owned by Mars, ranked #1. Starburst, owned by Mars, ranked #2. Haribo ranked #4. Ferrara Candy Company, Trolli brand, ranked #21. Total number of candies ranked is 135 (The Best Non-Chocolate Candies).
Mobile Presence
To my surprise, Ferrara Candy Company has no mobile app, not for consumers at least. However, they do have online resources for consumers and many social media sites to entertain and engage. While Haribo and Mars have apps for their consumers, both have since taken the app down or have updated it. For instance, Haribo thought it a good idea to launch a weather app in 2014 (Appsfactory, 2014). I was recently able to install the app, however it is only in the APK version and only available on Windows 8 and Windows phones (APKPure.com). I accessed the app and it was broken. The weather was not displayed as promised and the design was severely outdated. The app itself was not functionable and it kept crashing. However, what was promised in the app sounded nice: appeals to adults and children, weather information from anywhere in the world, provides entertainment, like the dancing bear poses, shares in-app poses to Facebook, free app, and users are directed to the online Haribo shop where they can browse and buy candy products. Likewise, Mars’ 2012 app consisted of simple design, outdated graphics, only available in iOS and iTunes, and not free of charge (PR News Wire, 2012)! Despite the app being of poor design, it is not broken like Haribo’s. The app consisted of using tools and strategies to save M&Ms from the melting chocolate pot. It appeared to be colorful and fun, giving consumers an exciting and new way to connect with their favorite M&M characters. The app was advertised to consumers of all ages and intended primarily for teens. The app consisted of 12 levels, 34 achievements, twitter messaging, Facebook posting, and a leaderboard. There was also a gifting button for iTunes virtual gifting to friends and others who played that game. As for availability, I looked it up on the iOS app store and could not find it, therefore, I fear it may have been taken down.
Social Media Presence
All the candy companies have active social media pages. Haribo has extended themselves across all platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc), but Mars and Ferrara Candy Company are only active on Facebook. However, their activity consists of mostly business announcements and humanitarian efforts/events/updates. Since all three are primarily active on Facebook, Haribo is in the lead with 1,034,360 followers, while Mars is in second place with 271,464 followers, and Ferrara is in last place with only 8,193 followers. Haribo’s sites are the most colorful and the most engaging. Consumers of all ages are welcome to join and participate. They include a lot of hashtags and fun incentives, unlike their competitors.
Proposed Recommendations
Based on the keyword ranking search above, I would only improve “best non-chocolate candy” or “fruity gummies” or “fruity candy” by creating link-worthy content directly related with all the specific keywords and either direct people to the specific site page on Haribo and their social media accounts. I would also use keyword search tools to improve my keywords that I am connecting links to with services like Google Search Console and Google KeyWord Planner. With these gummies being ranked the #1 gummi in 2018 (Haribo, 2020), I would expect that all search results should yield the best results for this company and its products.
For their social media strategy, they should try to post more of a variety of topics to engage more consumers. With posts getting around 2000 likes and 500 comments, that’s a lot of significant impressions. Therefore, when it's time to advertise the mobile campaign, making people aware will be no problem.
However, another element that needs improvement is the mobile app. It needs to be completely redesigned and relaunched. Therefore, there should be a whole mobile campaign geared toward making people aware of the app and advertising all its new technology features on Haribo’s social media. The app should be launched on December 13, 2020, to commemorate the companies 100th anniversary and take its loyal consumer base engagement to the next level with appropriate incentives. The app will also bring about new influencer opportunities and create advocates for years to come.
Part 2: Integrated Campaign
Integrated Campaign introduction
General Goals
The campaign objective is loyalty. There is no need for awareness because it is a worldwide company “as a global market leader in fruit gummies and liquorice” (Haribo, 2020). Haribo is available in more than “100 countries, produces at 16 locations in ten countries, and employs more than 7,000 people…” (Haribo, 2020). While featuring classic candy, they are always adding new sweets. Another impressive feature is the “development of special sweets whose flavours are specially tailored to local preferences in different countries” (Haribo, 2020).
Social Media Campaign
The objective of this campaign is to increase the variety of content by developing a better strategy to suit a smaller, but still prominent, audience age group (18-29). We want to bring variety to the social media posts by integrating the mobile app’s AI/geolocation technology to launch challenges on social media. Since the company already has a large following on Instagram, it will be no big deal setting off a social media campaign focused on “tasting a lil bit of childhood” or “global gummies” to target the right audience. Facebook will also be a good platform for measurement. #tasteyourchildhood
Mobile App Campaign
Overall, Haribo needs a complete redesign and objective for their mobile app campaign. They need to move away from their Weather app and create a more engaging game app/incentive based for young adults for the purpose of attracting this audience and keeping them for future advocacy. I would like the app to be able to connect to social media accounts and enable a geo-location feature for gaming and shipping. We will want to advertise the AI technology on the gaming app that will feature the tailored local gummi preferences. Since the new mobile app will be the main focus, social media and other mediums will feature app ads to bring about awareness. Some of the new content, that I proposed, on social media will have to do with the mobile app.
Social Media Special Objectives (KPIs)
As far as the new social media campaign is concerned, most of the content will be advertising the mobile app and encouraging beta testers/influencers to advertise it. We will also be looking to feature paid content and incentivize the campaign for maximum engagement and participation. I am anticipating an additional 1000 followers a month after we start the social media campaign and would like to see 500 impressions per post a week.
Mobile App Special Objectives (KPIs)
KPIs that will prove the success of this campaign will depend on the success of the game app launch and its successful advertisement on social media. Since we need to completely start over, because the app right now is only available for a select few, I would first love to make the new app available to two major phone app stores: Google Play Store (Android) and Apple App Store (iOS). After I have launched the app, I would like to see a rating of 4.5/5.0 (with reviews) in as a little as 6 months from the launch. I would like to see 500,000 downloads within a year of the launch.
Campaign Strategy
Search Ads
Google Search Ad Campaign: (18-23 target audience age)
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Campaign theme: Savor the Haribo yummy gummy made with real juice! #Goldbearapproved
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Objective: make it the most popular fruit gummy while providing in app competition with AI to design gummies. Focus on the Gummy Challenge and attract the group through more engagement on the app.
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Target audience: Young adults (18-23) who want to keep slim, but still want to keep up with their sweet tooth, without the guilt.
Research, Strategy, and Principles
Google Search Ads Campaign: (24-29)
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Campaign theme: #Tasteofchildhood #healthygummi #realjuice
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Objective: make it the go-to gummies while providing in-app features and games and still supporting cancer kids. Focus on supporting kids with cancer because this group is a little more mature than 18-23. Good cause. They can still have something sweet and help those in need.
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Target audience: 24-29 who want to have their preferred gummies get them through the day. Snack options. Or comfort food options with no guilt because Haribo is made with real juice and low calories.
Target Audience (demographics, interests)
The target audience for this campaign will be young adults who are starting college, graduating college, and settling into a grad school or having a post grad job. Since their life will be filled with all sorts of stressors, it is a perfect time to launch a social media campaign and target these people through challenges and incentives on social media/mobile app. Although my original audience was global, I think it is best to focus on young adults (18-29) in the US first, for the sake of this assignment. Since the game app is free, I am assuming that many people in this age group will download it just for fun, curiosity, or because they inherently love Haribo. The target audience will include people who have heard of Haribo, love Haribo, or have no idea what Haribo is and are curious to try something new. My audience will be more than excited to discover all the awesome features and get hooked on a candy-crush like Haribo game. Audience: males and females in the 18-29 age group in the US. They consist of all backgrounds: white, hispanic, african american, native american, asian, etc. This audience is quite active on social media and still interested in doing fun things with candy. They will be familiar with all of Haribo’s social media presences and campaigns. They are attracted to the product and the fact that it’s made with real juice. We will request their participation and offer them a chance to get featured for their content. They will be more than happy to participate and engage in the challenges and receive incentives. Most will even be interested in becoming influencers. Story-driven/challenge driven/incentive driven content will push them toward loyalty and eventually, advocates of Haribo. We will look toward our current fan base for our starting influencers. Haribo brought them a taste of childhood and helped them through the important parts of their early adult life. They are our first choice and we would love to have them on our team.
18-23: They are a wild bunch of people. Fresh out of high school and fresh into college/working. They will be open to new experiences and still find the gummy designs cool and delicious. Remind them of their colorful childhood. They will be engaged in the gummy challenge campaigns on social media and on the Goldbear’s Haven app.
24-29: They are a more mature group of people, graduating college and working or continuing education and working. They will still want to hold on to something sweet and familiar, while they move on to unfamiliar and new places. They may be conscious about their diet and health, so that is why these gummies are perfect for them: Real juice gummies. Sweet, but not too sweet. The mobile app will give them a reprieve from their hectic lives and they will be able to sink in the comfort of their childhood through the social media ads/incentives/app technology features.
Social Media Posts/Ads
When it comes to reaping the number of loyal consumers with hopes in turning them into influencers or advocates, there always has to be a give and take relationship on hand. For example, a user will do something for you effectively if there is a reward. Coupon toward products or free shipping or an even better gift: free candy/recognition. While the company will definitely be making money, the social media campaign is focused on getting to know its users and where they’re from along with using user generated content for points. For example, we want the Haribo community to know that we value them so we will set up a #challenge for them to participate in. They can take a picture of their favorite local gummy and we will feature it. The picture needs to be taken with some well-known architecture or statue to symbolize where they’re from and give off a vibe of global. It is a big community. (now with COVID-19 this challenge can be adapted to a photo version or video version of their physical architecture or special location. People could also make a video and talk about their locality and show all the gummies from there. They can also include the geolocation filter from the app to complete their challenge at home!) Once users follow a Haribo account on whichever social media platform of their preference, they will automatically receive a new geolocation filter for them to snap photos and submit their content to the challenges. Access to these filters can only be achieved by following the specific account or accessing them on the mobile app (launched later in the year).
The content on social media will feature everything from challenge posts with appropriate incentives to content that is user/influencer generated. We might also be able to watch the Chewy Channel episode, which comes out once a month. The captions under the photo/video will include the appropriate hashtags to promote social media challenges and mobile app challenges/features: #haribo #challenge #globalgummies #geolocationtreasurehunt #treasurehunt #explore #goldbearhaven
Incentives for engagment/participation:
1st prize: free bag of candy plus a feature on a social media site of their choice and a big 1 foot gummy bear (their design) delivered for free, no cost at all.
2nd prize: free shipping, feature on the page, and free bag of candy
3rd prize: A feature on the page and an opportunity to enter in a sweepstakes gummy competition through the mobile app, and free shipping on any bag of gummies of their choice.
(images on the posts of these social media challenges) (Haribo, 2020)
Times for Posting Content: Since the reach impact of media engagement is different on each media site, I have included a chart to show when it would be the best times and days to post content on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube:
Strictly for the purpose of media engagement: Central and Eastern Timezones
Social Media Accounts
Youtube (EdgyApp, 2020)
Best Days and Times
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 5 p.m., Friday from 8–9 a.m. (Arens, 2020)
Friday at 9 a.m. (Arens, 2020)
Wednesday at 9 a.m. and Thursday at 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. (Arens, 2020)
Weekdays: 2-4 p.m. (upload time) to reach 7-10 p.m. (media engagement time)
Weekends: 10-11 a.m. (upload time) to reach 12-3 p.m. (high media engagement time)
Other Mediums: Mobile App and App Interface/Features
The core idea for this app is to make it more user friendly with features to re-make Haribo’s mobile presence: give loyal customers something new and fun and provide a fun environment for new customers to get familiar with Haribo. The design element of including Goldbear will still be appreciated since the game will be called Goldbear’s Haven. However, because of the complete redesign, the app will have a familiar but modern look to it. Therefore, it will have a theme of red and yellow, and sometimes black to reflect the German national flag and origin of Haribo. As for the features, there will be a home page/store access link, in the hamburger menu icon: there will be several tabs pertaining to finding a store near you, connecting your social media account, accessing your gummy designs that you can submit as part of the new campaign (incentive based participation, also post on social media as advocacy), and last, but not least, the game with all its awesome graphic features (very colorful, high-end graphics and animations). The game will most likely be similar to Candy Crush, but with the 1000+ gummy designed characters instead.
Some of the technology will include geolocation filters, similar to Snapchat and AI features for designing gummies. The app will also require the user to sign-in with Google email or social media accounts (this data is also collected and inserted into a database pertaining to logistics and statistics of what media our users prefer. This data will be encrypted and stored in Haribo’s cache network logs.) All new technology features within the app will assist the user in participating and engaging in the mobile app campaign and respective social media challenges. Everything is linked.
It would be unique for Haribo to provide discounts on candy dependent on how many points the user has accumulated and how often they participate in the app or in the campaign itself (social media posts, etc.). Haribo may also want to consider gummy influencers (for the app) as independent contractors in the future. Additionally, the gummies that get designed by users and accepted by the company as part of their 1000+ design collection will be sent out to those winner users without shipping costs and the users will receive 1000 points in the app, which will give them additional discounts and they will be able to use their points as they see fit. Also, profile customization would provide individuals the ability to customize their profiles and provide their birthdays for a completely free mystery gift on their birthday, sent to their address of their choice. Their favorite color, animal, place, and any other element will be collected through machine algorithm implementation and stored in an information database, where Haribo employees can take particular details into careful consideration while preparing birthday, mystery, and prize gifts for users. This information is only seen by Gold-bear trusted employees, who work hard at keeping their app users happy and comfortable.
The ads for promoting this mobile app campaign will be very similar to the social media campaign ads. For example, To promote the app correctly, ad placement is very important. Ads will be placed on YouTube videos and all of Haribo’s global social media networks (for all countries) including: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. On their social media, the ads will aim to be native and interstitial. Also, Google keywords will be taken into consideration: fruity candy, fruity gummy, best gummies, yummy gummies, etc. The ads will provide key messages (30% more real juice gummies, organic gummies, taste of childhood comfort) that are simple, and will provide incentives for current and new Haribo customers. The incentives are:
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Automatic 350 points just from downloading the app. Points lead to candy discounts.
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Exclusive limited-time discounts and offers when playing the game daily and participating in the Design-your-gummy campaign through the app.
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Bonus Gold-bear points when linking your social media accounts to the app (sharing milestones and tagging the game/company to potentially get featured) and for winning any gummy design competitions.
Campaign Duration
Since the mobile app will not be released until December 13, 2020, the social media campaign will commence immediately in order to set a path of introduction for the new app and start adding variety with social media challenges. This will be a good thing to do during the pandemic. The social media campaign will continue indefinitely until another social media campaign idea comes along, but Haribo will be adapting this as a part of their new and updated content and optimized engagement strategy.
Budget (1 million as budget)
(image on mobile app for the #geolocationhunt challenge) (Haribo, 2020)
$500,000 for Social Media Challenge Campaign and Google Ad Searches
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Google Search Text ads
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Influencers and their content
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Social Media native ads anywhere relevant to the target audience based on cookies data and history data
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Paid ads on social media
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Analytics
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Partnership with Facebook (owns instagram) for customized geolocation filters for facebook and Instagram
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Partnership with Twitter over featured native ads
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Etc
$500,000 for the new Mobile App
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Software engineering of the app
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Graphic and Animation Design
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Paid ads on social media
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Banner and Native ads anywhere relevant to the target audience based on programmatic targeting
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AI Technology
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Geolocation filters
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Data encryption
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Google Search text ads
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Analytics
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Etc
Measurement Metrics
As for collecting data and measurement, I would like to rely on all the social media accounts (Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) and Google analytics features behind the scenes. I would collect all the detailed data from all of my analytics boards and make reports from there. The data provided will be extremely detailed and Haribo will be able to understand everything about their social media/mobile app impact from the impressions made (on the social media ads/app/search ad clicks, etc) to the effect of the content on the market and target audience. For example, all likes, comments, shares, follower gain, news media mentions, etc. will be available in detailed charts and graphs. The number of people who interact with the post will be recorded, so will the number of comments and shares. Follower gain will be tracked in detail from the start of the campaign, all the way to the end. And because of our excellent search engine optimization and the use of the keywords, it will be easy to view news media mentions, especially with the launch of the new app and new social media incentive-driven participation and content.