Envy™, voted America’s favorite apple last spring, is spending the last weeks of winter in sunny, warm Florida, heavily investing in the market to raise brand awareness, support retail customers, and increase sales. The multi-faceted campaign will target shoppers in the major metropolitan areas of Jacksonville, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Tampa, throughout February and March.
“We’re encouraging Floridians to bite and believe by educating and inspiring them throughout the path-to-purchase, driving motivated shoppers to seek Envy™ at their local stores and then continuing to engage with them via email and social media,” said Brock Nemecek, North American marketing manager for brand-owner, T&G Global. “We believe that this integrated concept will increase brand awareness and affection, and grow product distribution and sales at retail.”
Florida was selected due to the prime opportunity to increase distribution of the sweet, crunchy, and slow-to-brown apple in a proven market, and also to serve as a pilot for concentrated, high-impact initiatives that will be rolled out in other key markets later in 2018 and over the next few years. In addition to targeted social and email marketing components, the consumer- and retail-focused promotion will include:
- The launch of an interactive store locator at envyapples.com/store-locator which will be promoted via a 60-day, geo-targeted Google search and YouTube advertising campaign;
- Sampling events, coupons, ads, and specials coordinated with retail partners across the state;
- A rebate offer on the popular shopping app, Ibotta;
- An opportunity to win a Blendtec® Designer 625 blender via the nationwide Sunshine Smoothie Sweepstakes; and
- Appearances by Envy™ brand ambassadors on popular news and lifestyle programs on CBS 10 in Tampa Bay, and NBC 6 in Miami.
Developed to ensure effective measurement and accurate results, and learnings that can drive future sales at retail, the Envy™ team will utilize several tools and tactics to gauge the success of this program. In late January, the brand executed a survey to set benchmarks for brand awareness levels and consumer perceptions of the premium apple in Florida. A second survey will launch later in the year to measure change in those same areas. These surveys, as well as other tracked performance metrics will inform and guide the brand’s subsequent marketing endeavors.
“It’s important to support our retail partners and their customers with creative, measurable, and sometimes even experimental promotions, as we aim to stay one step ahead of ever-evolving consumer attitudes and behaviors,” shared Chris Willett, commercial manager, North America, T&G Global. “The key to moving the needle is collaboration and integration with retail, so that our offerings are consistent and valuable, and are reaching apple fans through every available channel – especially as we realize the substantial growth in Envy™ volume over the next several years.”
Nemecek notes that Envy™’s commitment to the market is long term.
“In this scenario, we’re not your typical snowbirds. We will maintain a strong presence with continued activities in Florida well beyond the promotion window,” he said.
Washington-grown, bulk and bagged Envy™ apples—as well as open opportunities for retailer participation in this and future Envy™ marketing programs—are now available from T&G Global’s three in-market sales agent partners, Oppy, Rainier Fruit Company, and CMI Orchards. Please contact your sales rep for more information and visit envyapples.com for links to all promotion elements.
About Envy™: Envy™ is a trademarked brand of the Scilate apple variety. Scilate is the result of a natural cross between Royal Gala and Braeburn. It was developed in New Zealand by Plant and Food Research and was patented in 2009 – the same year T&G, which owns the Envy™ trademark, began distributing it to the U.S. Envy™ is now grown under license to T&G in New Zealand, USA, Chile, Asia, the UK, France and Australia.www.envyapples.com
About T&G Global: T&G Global, formerly known within North America as ENZAFRUIT Products Inc or EPI, is currently celebrating 120 years in business. Headquartered in New Zealand, T&G is the country’s largest exporter of fresh fruit and vegetables. It owns the trademark to Envy™, JAZZ ™and Pacific Rose™ which are all grown in North America through partner growers to satisfy growing global demand. T&G has offices around the globe including Los Angeles and Wenatchee. www.tandg.global
Source: T&G Global
