For 30 years, Lunchables was seen as a functional snack. Our goal was to change that by ramping up our “buildability” message, inspiring kids to build and play more with our food. So to reverse recent penetration decline and grow sales, we needed consumers to see our product in a whole new light.
Studies showed that “kid request” (“I want more Lunchables!”) had a 70% correlation with parent purchase, making kids key to unlocking growth. At the same time, we had to increase parent favorability. We needed parents to feel even more inclined to purchase Lunchables, perceiving them as not just snack fuel, but creative fuel as well.
As the dominant category leader, Lunchables was looking to expand its lead by growing sales and category share, while growing the category overall. A key to achieving the business results was penetration— increasing the number of households purchasing Lunchables for their kids.
