Irvine, Calif. (August 31, 2010) – Building on past efforts to support sales of Hass avocados during the fall time frame, the Hass Avocado Board (HAB) will again be implementing a sports entertaining marketing campaign. Set to the theme of “Kick Off with Hass Avocados,” the program will encourage consumers to incorporate the fruit into game day meals.
The “Kick Off with Hass Avocados” program will “kick off” in the fall at a time when there is a strong supply in the market from multiple countries of origin. However, it is an umbrella effort that was developed to further tie Hass avocados to sports throughout the year and to support sports-related promotional efforts being conducted by HAB and its member organizations. The effort, developed by HAB, has become an industry-wide promotion with both the California Avocado Commission (CAC) and the Chilean Avocado Importers Association (CAIA,) providing additional funding to expand the promotional impact of the program.
In support of the “Kick Off with Hass Avocados” program, HAB has purchased a million dollar, integrated advertising buy on FOX Sports Net. HAB’s sports entertaining-themed advertising spot, which features former college and NFL® player John Lynch, will air throughout the college football season during all of FOX’s college football game broadcasts. Additionally as part of this buy, Hass avocados will be integrated on-air into FOX’s “College Football Magazine” show; sports entertaining-themed online advertising will be promoted on FoxSports.com; and FOX Sports will host HAB-sponsored tailgate events at key college games during the season to allow fans to sample Hass avocado game day recipes.
HAB also secured Food Network chef Tyler Florence as the spokesperson for the program. Florence has starred in a number of well-known cooking shows on Food Network, including “How to Boil Water,” a cooking show for novices; “Food 911,” his hugely popular “recipe rescue” show; as well as his signature series, “Tyler’s Ultimate” and has published multiple best-selling cookbooks.
Florence has worked with HAB to develop two avocado-centric recipes that are ideal for game day meals and will be distributed to media nationwide. He also will be promoting Hass avocados as a delicious addition to any game day menu in media interviews with television outlets in top-tier markets throughout the country as part of a satellite media tour. Additionally, he will be featured in multiple online videos produced by HAB that will be available on HAB’s website and promoted through HAB’s social media outlets. The online videos will showcase Florence demonstrating both of the avocado-centric recipes and offering quick tips about avocados.
Online efforts are serving as one of the main components of the program, with the introduction of a year-round sports entertaining micro site, which can be found at Sports.AvocadoCentral.com. The site will serve as an online resource for consumers to plan their next game day meal, by featuring Hass avocado recipe ideas and tips and allowing consumers to share their favorite recipes on commonly used social networking sites or via e-mail. The site also will feature an online recipe contest where consumers can upload photos, videos and blogs of their best avocado “Kick Off” recipe. The winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the 2011 Rose Bowl Game® including airfare, hotel and behind-the-scene passes to the Rose Bowl Parade®.
“We have seen tremendous growth in the category during this key supply period and are thrilled to have some of our member organizations involved in this year’s program,” said Jose Luis Obregon, managing director of HAB. “With a television advertising buy in excess of $1 million, well-known chef and TV personality Tyler Florence, serving as the spokesperson and a consumer recipe contest with a grand prize trip to the 2011 Rose Bowl Game®, HAB feels our efforts will lead to an increase in sales at the retail level.”
Retailers also will be able drive sales for Hass avocados in their stores by utilizing HAB’s “Kick Off with Hass Avocados”–themed point-of-sale materials that highlight game day avocado recipes and include information about HAB’s online recipe contest and its prizes.
Lastly, HAB will be working with college campuses to promote Hass avocados as a game day ingredient to college students. For example, the University of Massachusetts will be incorporating Hass avocados into their student dining facilities during the college football season, in addition to being added to the menu for the school’s alumni tent during the football games. HAB also is distributing a foodservice editor mailer, which will promote menu items that feature fresh Hass avocados.
Source: Hass Avocado Board
