BFY Opps: Kevin's Natural Foods to be acquired by Mars amid spend increase (Score 60)

Sales Lead: Kevin's Natural Foods recently announced that it will soon be acquired by Mars for an undisclosed sum.

• Kevin's, not a colorful female bird but a better-for-you (BFY) meal company, has posted double-digit growth since its 2019 founding.
• It will continue operating as a standalone business within Mars's food and nutrition segment.
• The acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2023.
• Mars is best known for products that aren't exactly healthy like Twix, M&M's, and Snickers, so this deal allows it to further expand its BFY portfolio.
  • Per a spokesperson, Mars will continue building its food business through additional upcoming acquisitions.
• On the other hand, the deal will allow Kevin's to access a larger budget and food industry expertise and, therefore, product expansion into more stores.
  • Right now, Kevin's products are available in more than 17k retailers.
• The brand will likely:
  • Shift strategy
  • Continue increasing digital spend
  • Seek new agency partners
• Target demographic: 
  • ​​​​​​​Primary: Consumers - BFY Gen-Z and millennials
  • Secondary: Business DMs - potential retail distribution partners

Recent leadership shifts:

• This announcement closely follows Kevin's January 2023 appointment of marketing director Holly Mullins.
  • ​​​​​​​She was previously the sales and marketing director at Sherpa Adventure Gear.

Additional spending insights:

• Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: Kevin's hasn't invested in national TV commercials since spending around $29.9k in Q1 2022.
  • Last year: The brand spent around $29.9k on this channel last year after not having utilized it in 2021.
  • 2022 ad programming: In 2022, Kevin's commercials targeted Gen-X watching shows such as Family Feud, The Big Bang Theory, Judge Judy, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and The People's Court.
• Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)
  • YTD spend: So far this year, the brand has allocated roughly $47.7k toward digital ads, 48% more than the roughly $32.3k spent by this point last year.
  • YTD data: Kevin's has earned approximately 6.7m digital impressions YTD, 61% via Instagram ads and 39% via Facebook ads.
  • Last year: The brand's estimated full-year 2022 spend of $51.5k was down by 24% from that of $67.8k in 2021.
• Additional channel insights  
  • The brand utilizes Google Ads along with local broadcast ads.

Additional agency insights:

• Opportunity: Kevin's may seek new agency partners after the acquisition, so reach out soon to be top-of-mind.
• Current agency roster (Kevin's):
  • ​​​​​​​No current agency partners yet confirmed
  • View Mars's full agency roster here.

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix.