(Originally published on Mi3).
Quest returned to market this year with its Protein Tortilla Chips, re-entering the protein snacking category after a three-year hiatus from above-the-line advertising. With new competitors entering the market and consumer demand for protein-rich snacks continuing to grow, the brand needed to quickly rebuild awareness and consideration among Australian shoppers.
We know that mixing multiple environments can have a positive impact on awareness and intent. Retail would capture people near the transaction. But could fitness environments capture them closer to the need state?
Post campaign analysis by VMO's proprietary tool, Validate, told us the answer. By adding the gym environment to a robust retail campaign, Quest's awareness and purchase intent went through the roof. Sales increased by 20 per cent over 6 weeks.
The data reminds us that, as marketers, we can't forget an age-old principle: context is key. Adding an environment where protein was already relevant to the consumer made them over two times more likely to trial the product. It's a lesson in thinking less about where the transaction happens and more about where demand begins.
What context delivered for Quest's brand
Across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, VMO Shop delivered broad, high frequency coverage across grocery environments, backed by large-format placements to give a returning brand real scale. VMO Active took the opposite approach, running a smaller, sharper network of screens inside gyms, placed exactly where fitness intent was already switched on.
The Brand Uplift study, which compared a group exposed to the campaign (across both verticals) against a matched control group who weren't, shows each vertical moved the needle in isolation, but running them together moved it considerably further. Awareness reached 67 per cent among people who saw the campaign, compared to 43 per cent among those who didn't, a 56 per cent relative lift.
VMO Shop alone lifted every brand metric measured. But layering VMO Active on top produced a further average uplift of 11 percentage points across awareness, trial, purchase intent and recommendation, compared with VMO Shop alone.
There is broader Australian evidence that environment matters, too. Kantar’s Media Reactions research found Australian consumers rate OOH and Digital OOH particularly strongly for their ability to capture attention, while its research more broadly points to the importance of reaching people in media environments where they are receptive to advertising. For marketers, that puts another dimension alongside reach and proximity: context. The same audience can respond very differently depending on the mindset they are in when a brand reaches them.
The value of reaching consumers in the right mindset
Splitting the results by exposure is where it gets interesting, because we can really see just how much heavy lifting VMO Active has done.
Respondents reached through VMO Shop alone lifted awareness from 43 per cent to 54 per cent, but trial didn't see a huge shift, up from 20 per cent to 23 per cent. Those also reached through VMO Active told a different story: 84 per cent product awareness and 52 per cent trial, more than double the control group on both counts. VMO Shop built the familiarity, while VMO Active was far more likely to make people want to try the product.
It's not always the obvious choice that ends up landing
If advertising is built on human psychology, channel mix should follow suit. Protein chips need a retail strategy because that's where they're put in a basket, but convenient protein matters most to people when their fitness mindset is already switched on. That happens on the gym floor, not in the cereal aisle. Quest didn't have to convince anyone they need protein; they just needed to be there the second they remembered they do.
Pearman Media were specifically looking for a partnership that could prove the effectiveness of the campaign to the client. Richard Sullivan from Quest said: "The results were eye-opening. It's a reminder that planning should be built around consumer need states, not just points of transaction. While retail remains critical, this campaign proved that reaching consumers in the right environment can dramatically improve effectiveness."
Retail media will always have a natural home in a retail brief, and rightly so. But the results in this campaign came from asking a different question: not just where does someone buy this, but where does someone first want it?
One of the biggest lessons from this is that effectiveness isn't just about reaching more people, it's about reaching people in the right mindset. Too often we focus on where a transaction happens, but growth can come from identifying the moments that make a category feel relevant. In Quest's case, the gym wasn't where people bought the product, but it was where they were most receptive to the message.
