How Kroger Precision Marketing Leveraged Mavrck to Scale Its Influencer Program to Over 300 Campaigns in 1 Year

About Kroger Precision Marketing

Kroger Precision Marketing, Powered by 84.51° was launched in October 2017 to tap into purchase data from 60 million households from 2,800 stores in 35 states to create holistic campaigns across an expanded digital ecosystem. The offerings include on-site advertising on Kroger.com, co-branded digital media across the open Web, and an exclusive word-of-mouth platform which reaches Kroger’s most loyal customers with new products to better understand customer opinions and acquire user-generated content.

84.51° is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Kroger Co., the third largest retailer in the world, and works exclusively with CPGs to deepen relationships with Kroger customers and brands to create measurable value.

“As part of Restock Kroger we are committed to partnering for customer value and redefining the grocery customer experience. Kroger Precision Marketing is an alternative revenue stream for Kroger and provides brands the platform to offer a more personalized online experiences to Kroger customers through digital innovation.”

– Yael Cosset, Kroger’s Chief Digital Officer

Overview: The “Restock Kroger” Initiative

Faced with changing consumer preferences for out-of-home food and dining experiences and increasing competition from e-commerce grocery retailers like Amazon, Kroger kicked off its Restock Kroger Plan in 2018.

The Restock Kroger Plan is an accelerated three-year strategic plan designed to leverage data and technology around pricing, personalized communications with customers, and changes to its product assortments to deliver an elevated customer experience online and in-store.

As a part of this initiative, KPM wanted to launch co-branded influencer marketing programs at scale that leveraged multiple channels to connect with customers, delivering against key objectives such as accelerating the impact of new product launches, amplifying in-store promotions, or driving long-term sales growth.

The Goals

Scale Content to Drive Inspiration & Discovery

Generate high volumes of influencer content that drives discovery across digital platforms and meets the functional, emotional and inspirational needs of the Kroger customer.

Create Differentiated Experiences through Content Curation

Curate content across Kroger-owned properties to develop customized experiences for key customer segments, including targeted recipes and promotional offers.

Increase Campaign Scale to Create an Alternative Revenue Stream

Develop a competitive co-branded influencer marketing offering for CPGs to drive intent, preference and traffic at Kroger stores.

KPM Influencer Marketing Strategy

To deliver on its core objectives to drive inspiration and discovery, create differentiated experiences, as well as develop an alternative revenue stream, KPM developed an always-on influencer marketing strategy around five core content initiatives:

• Product Content
• Recipe & Video Content
• Complementary Products
• Personal Stories
• User-Generated Content

Macro-Influencers were activated on a scale of 5-50 influencers per campaign to create original blog and video content that was then shared across social platforms.

Micro-Influencers were activated on a scale of 100 – 200 influencers per campaign to create original posts and stories on Instagram.

High-performing influencer-generated content was then amplified via paid social and across Kroger’s owned media assets (ie. owned social, brand.com, and email).

Private Label Brand Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 122 Micro-Influencer Posts Published
• 47.6k Engagements on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 490k Impressions on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 9.72% Average Micro-Influencer Engagement Rate

Campbell’s Soup Company Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 2 Campbell’s Micro-Influencer Brand Campaigns
• 296 Micro-Influencer Posts Published
• 257.8k Engagements on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 3.5M Impressions on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 6.1% Average Micro-Influencer Engagement Rate

Mars Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 1 Mars Micro-Influencer Brand Campaign
• 105 Micro-Influencer Instagram Posts Published
• 106.6k Engagements on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 1.1M Impressions on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 9.8% Average Micro-Influencer Engagement Rate

General Mills Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 6 General Mills Micro-Influencer Brand Campaigns
• 631 Micro-Influencer Instagram Posts Published
• 617.6k Engagements on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 6.9M Impressions on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 8.97% Average Micro-Influencer Engagement Rate

Lindt & Sprüngli Macro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 1 Lindt Macro-Influencer Brand Campaign
• 52 Macro-Influencer Instagram Posts + Stories Published
• 54.1k Engagements on Macro-Influencer Content
• 414.1k Impressions on Macro-Influencer Content
• 7.1% Average Macro-Influencer Engagement Rate

Groupo Bimbo Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 1 LightLife Micro-Influencer Brand Campaign
• 84 Micro-Influencer Instagram Posts Published
• 77.1k Engagements on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 793k Impressions on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 9.7% Average Micro-Influencer Engagement Rate

Hershey’s Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 2 Hershey’s Micro-Influencer Brand Campaigns
• 161 Micro-Influencer Instagram Posts Published
• 138.3k Engagements on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 2M Impressions on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 6.85% Average Micro-Influencer Engagement Rate

Keurig Dr. Pepper Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 3 Micro-Influencer Brand Campaigns
• 337 Micro-Influencer Instagram Posts Published
• 244.8k Engagements on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 12.5M Impressions on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 4.3% Average Micro-Influencer Engagement Rate

Hasbro Macro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 1 Hasbro Multi-Platform Macro-Influencer Campaign
• 110 Macro-Influencer Posts Published Across Instagram, Blog, Pinterest, Facebook
• 5.2k Engagements on Macro-Influencer Content
• 722.8k Impressions on Macro-Influencer Content
• 5% Average Macro-Influencer Engagement Rate

Mondelēz Macro- & Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 5 Mondelēz Multi-Platform Influencer Campaigns
• 568 Influencer Posts Published on Blog, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook
• 445.8k Engagements on Influencer Posts
• 15.6M Impressions on Influencer Posts
• 6.46% Average Influencer Engagement Rate

Nestlé Macro- & Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 3 Nestlé Multi-Platform Influencer Campaigns
• 252 Influencer Posts Published Across Instagram, Blog, Pinterest, Facebook
• 164.4k Engagements on Influencer Posts
• 4.9M Impressions on Influencer Posts
• 4.33% Average Influencer Engagement Rate

PepsiCo Macro & Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 2 Doritos Influencer Brand Campaigns
• 142 Influencer Instagram Posts Published
• 143.5k Engagements on Influencer Posts
• 2.3M Impressions on Influencer Posts
• 6% Average Influencer Engagement Rate

Starbucks Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 1 Evolution Fresh Micro-Influencer Campaign
• 111 Micro-Influencer Instagram Posts Published
• 89.2k Engagements on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 914.7k  Impressions on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 9.8% Average Micro-Influencer Engagement Rate

The Food Network Macro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 1 The Food Network Macro-Influencer Campaign
• 43 Macro-Influencer Content Published on Blog, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest
• 11.2k Engagements on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 151.6k Impressions on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 7.4% Average Micro-Influencer Engagement Rate

The Coca-Cola Company Macro & Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 2 Coca-Cola Influencer Brand Campaigns
• 166 Influencer Content Published on Blog, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook
• 69.4k Engagements on Influencer Content
• 1.3M Impressions on Influencer Content
• 5.2% Average Influencer Engagement Rate

Tyson Foods Micro-Influencer Campaign Performance

• 1 Jimmy Dean Micro-Influencer Brand Campaign
• 118 Micro-Influencer Instagram Posts Published
• 46.7k Engagements on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 634.8k Impressions on Micro-Influencer Posts
• 7.5% Average Micro-Influencer Engagement Rate

Doritos Macro-Influencer Stories Campaign Performance

• 22 Macro-Influencer Instagram Stories Published
• 18.4k Engagements on Macro-Influencer Stories
• 1M Impressions on Macro-Influencer Stories
• 1.9% Average Macro-Influencer Stories Engagement Rate

Lindt & Sprüngli Macro-Influencer Stories Performance

• 42 Macro-Influencer Instagram Stories Published
• 16.5k Engagements on Macro-Influencer Stories
• 398k Impressions on Macro-Influencer Stories
• 4.1% Average Macro-Influencer Engagement Rate