Marketing spikes at new year, summer

For diet aids, it’s not very surprising to see that the largest marketing spike coincides with people’s New Year’s resolutions at the beginning of the year. Last year, according to a University of Scranton survey, losing weight was the No. 1 New Year’s resolution made. Staying fit and healthy was No. 5.



The other two marketing spikes, while not nearly as great as New Year’s, are at the beginning and end of summer, according to data from ECRM that takes a week-by-week look at the feature ads of the leading 200-plus retail circulars to see where the seasonal marketing spikes exist. Before summer there is bikini season as both men and women prepare to get fit for their swim attire, and after summer, around Labor Day, there is a push to lose weight before the expected over-indulgence of the holiday season.



The prevalence of promotions behind store-brand diet aids grew by 5.3% between 2013 and 2014, according to ECRM. However, Unilever is the heaviest promoter during diet-aid season with its Slim Fast brand (26.2% brand share of voice), followed by Atkins Nutritionals’ Atkins (13.6%) and Atkins Advantage (4.9%) diet aids.