Danone Canada’s Oikos yogurt brand is going after the morning snacking occasion with its latest product launch, keeping its dreamy creative to support the debut.

Oikos SuperGrains, sold in multi-pack format, is made up of Greek yogurt and a variety of grains including quinoa, chia, buckwheat and flaxseed. Positioned as the right mix of protein and texture, it aims to fill the snacking occasion between breakfast and lunch, says Arthur Sylvestre, brand manager at Danone Canada.

The launch was backed by extensive consumer research, including findings from Nielsen and TNS that suggests consumers are looking for healthier snacks that keep them full, especially in the morning, to take control of their day, Sylvestre says. Its primary target is young professionals with active lifestyles, or what is calls “healthy indulgers,” though it also hopes to reach the 45-plus demographic.

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Oikos has largely positioned itself as a brand for snacking generally. The SuperGrains’ launch, for example, comes a year after it debuted Oikos Creations, a dessert-like line targeting nighttime snackers. The brand typically has one major product launch per year with the goal of answering consumer needs in what Sylvestre calls a quickly evolving category.

To support the SuperGrains launch, Oikos is continuing to use its “Dream” platform, again using its central character, Simon, as he uses his yogurt tasting to delve into dreams featuring his love interest, Daniela.

This time, though, the dream is more fulfilling, with the couple getting some divine intervention to help their love story along – an update to the creative and a nod to Oikos’ SuperGrains being a more robust yogurt snack.

The campaign has resonated well, Sylvestre notes – the campaign’s initial launch in early 2015 boosted the brand back into positive sales growth after losing share to brands like Iogo and Liberté. Oikos currently holds the top position in the Canadian Greek yogurt segment, holding roughly 40% of the market as of the end of 2016, according to Sylvestre.

Oikos is supporting the launch in-store with POS at shelf, FSIs and couponing, and the brand will be using in-store sampling to drive product trial across Canada, mainly at Loblaws, Walmart, Sobeys, Metro, Co-op and stores that are part of the Overwaitea Food Group.

“Oikos is a very impulsive brand and we know that when people see Oikos in the store they tend to put it in the basket a lot more,” Sylvestre says.

Along with a mass campaign including 30- and 15-second TV creative in English and French, OOH focused on transit shelters and a digital buy including banner ads and 15-second videos, Oikos also has a hockey integration strategy, aimed at reaching more of a male target.

A strategic integration with NHL broadcasts will featured an animated segment celebrating top goals, or “Dream Plays” of the week. For a six-week period that began Monday, Oikos SuperGrains will sponsor the pre-existing “Race to the Playoffs” segment on Sportsnet hockey broadcasts, and the “Course aux séries” segment on TVA Sports hockey broadcasts. Those feature an on-screen ranking of NHL teams in the lead-up to the playoffs and during the segments, the brand will be featured in a short animated opening billboard (on TVA Sports) and closing billboard (on Sportsnet), and will also receive on-screen logo and lower-third banner visibility (on TVA Sports only) when the team rankings are presented during broadcasts.

For the first time in Canada, Oikos has also partnered with Spotify. Online video will drive to a short quiz, which users can take to be led to a customized playlist of music and a particular Oikos SuperGrains flavour based on their preferences. While Spotify is fairly evenly divided between males and females, it – like Oikos – over indexes among households with incomes of $90,000 or more, Sylvestre says.

On Instagram, Oikos has also brought back “choose your own adventure” type posts, as it’s used in previous campaigns, using different hashtags to prompt users to make choices about how to fulfill their dreams for chances to win prizes, including a $500 gift card and an invitation to an Oikos SuperGrains event.

Oikos’ target spends roughly 20 minutes a day on Instagram, and the goal of its approach is to interrupt the “scroll, like, scroll” behaviour on the channel, Sylvestre says.

The brand also has an influencer strategy, working with nine influencers in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia, who will be incorporating the “Dream” storyline into a series of posts.

Media for the SuperGrains launch was led by Carat, with Taxi (formerly Saint-Jacques Vallée Y&R) on creative. The brand also works with Geometry Global on POS advertising, Mirum on digital, Carl on social media and National Public Relations.