Brief:

• Jarlsberg Cheese launched a multimedia campaign that includes in-store mobile ads and Ibotta digital coupons to drive grocery purchases, the company announced. The "Life's Best Served with Jarlsberg" effort follows last year's pilot that focused on reaching older millennials in the New York metro area with influencer content, digital media, recipes and experiential events around free wine and cheese tastings.
• The cheese brand plans an "always on" mobile ad and paid social strategy for this year to focus on customer acquisition and conversions. Jarlsberg's campaign will include seasonal targeting with new recipes, videos and "food hacks" to urge brand interest and loyalty. The creative focuses on the "best served" themes of getting personal, making memories and personalizing experiences for fans.
• Jarlsberg created a microsite as a campaign hub, letting shoppers find coupons, recipes and food inspiration. The initiative aims to drive website traffic from brand awareness and education to engagement and purchase intent, the company said.

Insight:

"Brick-and-mobile" marketing strategies like Jarlsberg's have become more prominent as brands and retailers aim to make the online and offline worlds more seamless for on-the-go consumers. The percentage of shoppers who use mobile devices while browsing stores grew to 71% in 2018 from 62% a year earlier, according to a Salesforce survey. Brick-and-mobile shopping is popular among younger adults with 83% of people ages 18 to 44 using mobile devices in stores. Sportswear giant Nike, beverage maker Dirty Lemon and cosmetics giant Shiseido are among the brands that have integrated a slew of mobile tech into retail locations.

Jarlsberg's campaign aims to reach relatively tech-savvy millennials on mobile devices, and particularly those who prefer personalized experiences they can share with friends and family on social media. Experiences such as wine-and-cheese tastings, "friendsgiving" and pop-up experiences, as Jarlsberg's website highlights, aims to help the brand to differentiate itself from competitors and deepen customer engagement.

Combining mobile platforms with experiential activations has gradually become more popular as brands try to reach younger, ad-fatigued consumers who are less likely to engage with brands through traditional media. YouTube in December tried a similar strategy to promote its original four-part docuseries about pop singer Ariana Grande. The campaign urged fans to visit specially marked billboards throughout the U.S. and Canada and scan them with a smartphone camera to unlock exclusive content like wallpapers.