Take in the Outdoors | Nature Valley

Challenge 

Today, we’re seeing the snack bar category flooded with options, and within this $7.3 billion dollar, highly saturated category, brands are lost to a sea of competitors. As people seek new options, how do brands reconnect people to their once beloved granola bar? Further, at a time when people aren’t buying on-the-go snacks as often, and many Americans are spending less time outdoors due to the pandemic, people need to be reminded of the draws and benefits of grab-and-go bars.  

With the calmness and tranquility that nature brings, and people crave after lockdown, we saw an opportunity for Nature Valley to reconnect with consumers and become the desired granola bar once loved by shoppers. 

Creative Idea 

If people can’t get outdoors, could we take it to them? Nature Valley is uniquely positioned to serve a dose of nature directly to those who need it most: Commuters. They needed an escape, so we sought to deliver an inspiring reminder to get outdoors and take in the benefits of spending time in nature. 

We crafted a multi-sensory campaign to bring the restorative power of nature to people, inviting them to “Take in the Outdoors.” The campaign centers around an immersive microsite (TakeInTheOutdoors.com) where, with just a click, voice command, or scan of a QR code, visitors can explore 360 naturescapes, access a library of 3D audio experiences, and identify their nearest nature escape by entering their zip code.   

The smartly targeted campaign spans TV, OOH, podcasts, digital & haptic video, social media & radio, and includes:   

– A ‘nature commute’ that brought relief through immersive OOH in the most burned-out urban cities, from a bike shelter covered with living plants to motion-sensing fans to ‘take in the breeze’.   

 – Audio ads with Pandora that offered listeners unexpected outdoor experiences, rewarding those who took a break with one hour of uninterrupted listening.   

 – Haptic video ads that delivered the rush of a waterfall through sight, sound and touch.   

– To help people get outside and explore, we created a platform to find your nearest nature spot  

Results 

– Thousands of commuters ditched the grind and hit the trail with us…even though they were still on their way to work…driving major results for Nature Valley.   

– 786K people destressed and took a nature break 

– People spent 315K minutes destressing with Nature Valley activations 

– 500K people visited takeintheoutdoors.com.    

– We increased the brand’s connection to nature by +8pts    

– We drove an +11pts increase in ‘Nature Valley values what I value’   

– We increased brand consideration by +4.2pts