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CATEGORY: Beverage

How Ardor Organic Drove New Customer Acquisition at Whole Foods with Social Nature

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Impact at a glance

Demand for Product

12,500 WFM shoppers applied to try Ardor Energy in a two week period.

New Customer Acquisition

80% had never heard of the brand – 73% would buy again!

Affinity to Make the Switch

59% said it was better than their current brand.

The Challenge

Ardor Organic, an emerging brand in the better-for-you beverage space, wanted to increase trial of their natural energy drinks. The company launched during COVID-19 and was unable to leverage traditional sampling tactics to get “cans in hands”. Operating with a lean marketing team on a startup budget, Ardor knew the key to their success at Whole Foods was to efficiently convince energy drink consumers to try a healthier, more natural alternative. 

The Solution

Ardor partnered with Social Nature on a digital sampling campaign targeting energy drink consumers who shop at Whole Foods. This allowed the organization to connect with likely buyers without resorting to expensive paid digital acquisition campaigns. In addition, Social Nature’s sampling approach provided a way to increase trial and drive traffic to retail channels during a time in which many consumers were spending less time in store. 

The Results

Increased Trial
Over the course of the campaign, Whole Foods shoppers applied to try Ardor’s products, 80% of whom had not heard of the brand. 73% of consumers who tried Ardor’s energy drinks indicated they would purchase Ardor’s products again. Over half of consumers who sampled Ardor’s beverages indicated a preference over their current brand.

Enhanced Relationship with Whole Foods
Ardor found the in-store insights resulting from the campaign helped present Whole Foods with favorable data. They were able to present their buyers with data showing increased traffic and velocity during and after the sampling campaign compared to before.  In addition, product feedback and reviews from ideal consumers helped inform decisions on which SKUs to stock going forward.

Reviews, reviews and more reviews
The campaign generated over 7,000 reviews (a 72% review rate) with an average rating of 4.2 out of 5. This data helped inform future product launch decisions and helped Ardor’s marketing team gain a better understanding of what attributes matter most to their most valuable customers and prospects.

Social Nature is an all-inclusive shopper marketing platform

Partnering with Social Nature allowed Ardor Energy to achieve their shopper marketing goals including increased trial, increased in-store velocity at Whole Foods and gaining customer reviews and insights.

“The ability to use social nature to get our cans into the hands of the right customer is unparalleled. The reach and scale of being able to target and drive trial across the country provides tremendous value to a brand like ours. The engagement levels and the key data points the insights provides allows for a deep understanding of consumer feedback that will help our brand grow. Driving trial in this turnkey manner with a super engaged community of discovery shoppers makes this solution invaluable to us.”
Allison Wilson

Allison Wilson

VP of Sales for Ardor Organic

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