In an effort to reach shoppers at one of their biggest moments of weakness — when they are buying groceries at the supermarket — eDiets.com today plans to roll out a nationwide in-store marketing campaign.
eDiets.com is a personalized diet and consulting site that recently launched a $10 million marketing campaign targeting women 25 to 45 years old. The campaign includes print, radio and online elements.
The instore advertising is the biggest thrust of the campaign. “What we’re trying to do is to interrupt and talk to people at the point where they’re making decisions about their weight loss and food intake,” said Patricia Hambrick, chief marketing officer at eDiets, Fort Lauderdale, FL. “Instore is the first place they fall off their diet.”
Shoppers at more than 3,000 Albertsons, Krogers, Safeways and Vons supermarkets will be greeted by a 3-foot-by-2-foot display stating, “You feel like you’ve lost weight. Have you been using eDiets.com?”
The campaign will include stickers on fruit, ads placed on shopping carts and coupon backers to create a fully integrated supermarket presence.
The marketing effort will run simultaneously in San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Atlanta and Washington throughout the summer.
Supporting media buys have been running since late April. An online marketing campaign is in full swing. Banners are running on major sites such as Yahoo, AOL and iVillage as well as self-help sites such as Dreamlife.com and RealAge.com.
Three weekly e-mail newsletters featuring fitness and weight-loss tips and other original content articles are sent to the site’s 1.5 million members. eDiets.com also runs an affiliate program.
Membership at the site is subscription-based. Dieters pay $10 per month to take part in its weight loss program. DiMassimo Brand Advertising, New York is the agency of record.
