Solutions Spotlight: National Nutrition Month at Hy-Vee
Kaitlin Anderson, registered dietitian for Hy-Vee in Rochester, Minnesota, spread the “National Nutrition Month” word to consumers through two high-readership communications platforms: the local newspaper and her e-newsletter.
Each week, Kaitlin pens a column for the Rochester Post-Bulletin, “Cart Smarts,”where she highlights healthy foods, realistic recipes, and simple shopping tips. Her March 11th column highlighted National Nutrition Month, providing five ways readers can enjoy the taste of eating right. The Rochester Post-Bulletin has a daily readership of 110,000 and is the largest daily newspaper in southeastern Minnesota.
Kaitlin also highlighted National Nutrition Month and cross-promoted her “Cart Smarts” column through her spring e-newsletter, which is distributed to over 2,000 shopper contacts.
To estimate the sales impact of her efforts, Kaitlin checked the movement history of all products featured in her newsletter. She noted that her “Dietitian’s Pick of the Month,” Brussels sprouts, showed a year over year sales increase of 132% in March 2014 compared to March 2013.
Kaitlin stated that a customer stopped her in the produce department after her newspaper column ran saying, “Oh, you’re the dietitian from the newspaper! I visited a friend this weekend and she had ‘your’ vegetables roasting in the oven!” (referring to the recipe featured in Kaitlin’s column). Although difficult to measure, this “word of mouth” communication reinforces Kaitlin’s position as a credible resource for Hy-Vee and helps build customer loyalty.
