Immuno Lakto: launch of a line with unusual flavors

The Lakto brand, developed by Mildberry for the European market and successfully entered the Chinese market, has also appeared in Russian supermarkets. Immuno Lakto is a new line of functional fermented milk products for immunity, exclusively launched in Russia by the alliance of the Nesvizh Baby Food Plant (NZDP) and X5 Retail Group.

The evaluation of a specific niche of fortified fermented milk drinks showed that the key players, despite the fact that these are large national brands, are developing their concepts in the same “immunity benefit” positioning territory, which has already become a staple for the products. So, NZDP came up with the idea to launch a line of immune drinks with unusual flavors under the Immuno Lakto brand, with an emphasis on the emotional and quality superstructure.

The Immuno Lakto line has become a logical addition to the portfolio of exclusive brands launched by the manufacturer and retailer on a parity basis (including successful projects as Verkhovye and Sarafanovo). For X5 Retail Group, this is a way to emotionally engage the customer. The main trend in the development of retail is connected precisely with the struggle for people’s attention, in which retail chains are changing from suppliers of goods and services into producers of experience.

The absence of similar brands from most competitors-retailers provided additional opportunities for network differentiation through an exclusive brand.
If in the past the main advantage of these products was a favorable price, today that is no longer enough. The emotional experience that the target audience receives when interacting with the brand comes to the forefront. In the case of Immuno Lakto, this experience should have been especially strong: the brand’s competitors have long been familiar to consumers, most of them already have the feeling that they are familiar with the product category and have a good understanding of it. In this case, only a pronounced value USP and a noticeable design that stands out on the shelf can “switch” the audience to a new brand.

To counter our competition, we presented the “vital energy of the world” concept and offered to consider Immuno Lakto as a way to get acquainted with the tastes of fruits and berries from all over the world. The concept is reflected both in the packaging design and in the interesting flavor palette (strawberry-lime, pomegranate-raspberry, blackberry-strawberry and dragon fruit-mango became the first SKUs of the line), and in marketing activities in support of the brand both in-store and online. The brand responds to the insight of the core target audience – active and multi-tasking girls who love sports and travel: “I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, full of impressions, breathe deeply and not depend on the problems that a weak immune system can cause.”

Immuno Lakto appeared on the shelves of Perekrestok and Pyaterochka stores in April 2020. The new brand immediately attracted the attention of its target audience: it is necessary to maintain and protect the immune system in order to preserve vitality.

The first sales figures show exceptionally positive results. And if the results of the launch for the Nesvizh Baby Food Plant can be assessed in terms of sales (and this indicator is growing steadily), then for X5 Retail Group, the long-term impact of the project on the retail brand is more important – the value of an exclusive trademark is that all put into it, all messages are perceived by consumers as the sales network’s special offer.