Brogurt alert! Dannon unveils protein-packed Oikos Triple Zero Greek yogurt

Each 5.3oz pot of Oikos Triple Zero  Greek yogurt - which boasts “zero added sugar, zero artificial sweeteners and zero fat”​ - contains 6g fiber, 15g protein (25% more than regular Oikos), 7g sugar (naturally occurring), 0g fat and 120 calories, said the company.

“Dannon is changing the current market where yogurt is disproportionately consumed by women as compared to men… With the goal of expanding its once predominantly female consumer, the brand will be exploring integrated partnerships with television networks with a high male viewership.”​

Available in six flavors – Vanilla, Coconut Crème, Strawberry, Banana Crème, Mixed Berry and Peach – Triple Zero is being rolled out nationwide this month supported by an ad campaign featuring Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.

The brand will be exploring integrated partnerships with television networks with a high male viewership​

Oikos had a “great run​” with Full House star John Stamos, Art D'Elia, Dannon's VP-marketing, told AdAge​​. But he added: "We wanted a spokesperson and an advertising model that could help us appeal more to males and that's why we made the decision … to move away from John."​

While Dannon is the official yogurt sponsor of the NFL​, and booked ad slots at the Super Bowl in 2012 and 2014, it does not plan to return to the Super Bowl this year, he said.

Under the tie-up with the NFL, Dannon can use the NFL shield, which is prominently displayed on Oikos Triple Zero.

The launch of Triple Zero, which will also be stocked at the dining facilities of every NFL team, will be supported with a "multi-million dollar media investment​" that includes buys on media outlets with significant male reach, such as cable networks Spike and ESPN, Men's Health magazine and digital takeovers on NFL.com, added D'Elia, who claimed that male buyers account for only 37% of total Greek yogurt sales.

Greek yogurt market maturing​

While sales of Greek yogurt are still growing, category growth has slowed as the market has matured, with one market watcher recently predicting that dollar sales growth in the overall yogurt category (which has been driven by Greek in recent years) “will venture into negative territory in 2015”​.  

From a category perspective, it appears that “market demand has matured, but retailers and manufacturers haven’t caught up​”, Dr Kurt Jetta, PhD, founder & CEO of CPG analytics firm TABS Group, told FoodNavigator-USA last year​​.

He added: “Unit sales are flat versus a year ago, dollar sales are up slightly, but SKU (stock-keeping-unit) count gains are up about 10% overall and 20%+ for Greek yogurt ​[manufacturers are adding new SKUs at a much faster pace than the category is growing]. ​

“This translates to a significant decrease in category productivity, and that is usually a precursor to retailers cutting back on their assortment,” ​said Dr Jetta. “And this, in turn, has a negative effect on category sales.​

Non-Greek still generates more unit productivity​

“While Greek yogurt outperforms the other items on a dollar velocity basis, non-Greek still generates more unit productivity. To a certain extent, the industry overcompensated assortments to respond to the shift in demand to Greek at the expense of non-Greek. ​

“Retailers that are over-developed in Greek right now will see disproportionately severe declines in category sales due to this exposure, where velocity declines in Greek are more than twice that of non-Greek.”​

Asked to comment on the launch, Peter McGuinness, chief marketing and brand officer at rival Chobani, said: "We've thought about marketing to men but I don't want to talk about brogurt. To me there's no interesting marketing angle there. We talk about our Greek yogurt as a delicious, nutritious and natural snack and men know that it is thicker, creamier and protein-packed. Olympic athletes have been eating our products for years." ​