How Thomas' English Muffins Boosted In-Store Sales With Swayable

Several types of Thomas' English Muffins in supermarket packaging on a table.

Challenge

Thomas's Senior Brand Manager Mike Jensen wanted to attract younger customers to the brand with a new digital campaign. Digital metrics like clicks and views were good for measuring digital engagement, but Jensen was unsure what would translate to in-store sales and brand lift, particularly among younger audiences.

A graphic showing Thomas' goals (in-store purchase, consideration, brand love), and data (clicks, views, likes, reactions).

Solution

Jensen had three messaging options for his brand refresh: maintain the traditional Thomas' voice, adopt something more optimistic, or take on a more edgy tone with emojis and slang. Jensen used Swayable's to assess how 3 messaging directions would drive brand affinity, consideration, and in-store purchase intent.

3 social media mockups for Thomas' English Muffins: traditional, optimistic, and edgy.

Results

Swayable's test revealed that the 'traditional' messaging drove the highest increase in brand consideration, affinity, and purchase intent. This suggests that a voice authentic to the brand is what resonates best with consumers.

Swayable results for 3 different message strategies: traditional, edgy, and optimistic; with traditional increasing consideration lift the most.

Impact

Mike used the Swayable data to select which messaging to move forward with. The ads did not just build the brand; they drove results. An independent study by Bain & Company registered a 7%+ sales lift in markets where Swayable's recommended messaging went live. Since then, Thomas' parent Bimbo Bakeries Group has used Swayable across their brand portfolio, testing campaigns, packaging, and even celebrity endorsement options.

A bar graph showing retail sales uplift for Facebook/Instagram and Pinterest. The test group showed an increase of 7% in r

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