Though its budget is limited, the U.S. based Chilean Fresh Fruit Association conducts an impressive array of advertising and marketing programs targeting consumers, including one aimed at the millions of people who will be watching the Super Bowl in early February, which is the height of Chilean fruit season.
“We have a really exciting campaign that we just launched on December 16,” said Karen Brux, managing director of CFFA. The Super Bowl takes place in early February. It is the second largest day for food consumption in the U.S., and the most watched American TV program, with 115 million viewers.
Capitalizing on what it calls a “super bowl” of fruit available from Chile in January and February — grapes, blueberries, cherries, peaches, plums and nectarines — CFFA is running a “Super Fruit Bowl” ad campaign with ESPN, the well-known cable sports network.
Brux said ESPN will showcase video and banner ads on both ESPN.com and the ESPN App highlighting recipes and ideas utilizing fruits from Chile for football parties and everyday life. “The theme with this campaign is to showcase typical ‘anti-Super Bowl’ foods and to get football fans to incorporate delicious healthy choices into their ‘Big Game’ parties,” Brux said.
In addition, Chilean fruit ads will drive people to a designated website where they can register to win a trip to the Super Bowl. Once on the website, visitors can also learn more about the Chilean fruit, recipes and the advantages of incorporating fresh fruits from Chile into their daily life.
CFFA also heavily uses social media to reach out to consumers during its season. “We have a huge following on social media: 410,000 Facebook fans, 23,000 Instagram followers and more than 8,000 subscribers to our monthly consumer newsletter,” Brux said. “We use recipes, recipe videos and numerous orchard videos to bring U.S. consumers closer to Chile and Chilean fruit. We also share this material with retailers and have numerous chains, large and small, that share this on their social media channels, greatly expanding our reach.”
Brux noted that one of the main objectives of its consumer marketing is “to keep increasing consumer knowledge surrounding Chilean fruit.” The marketing material focused on what’s exported from Chile and when; why is it okay to buy imported fruit (the message of counter-seasonal supply); and what makes Chile unique as a growing region.
“We conducted consumer focus groups a few years ago and we learned that although consumers are eating a lot of Chilean fruit during the winter months (and throughout the year), most don’t even realize it’s from Chile,” she said. “Through our consumer and trade programs, we’re working to increase awareness of Chile and highlight all the amazing aspects of the country that contribute to Chile providing consistently great fruit throughout the year.”
Brux travels to Chile several times each year, and continually takes orchard videos to use on social media, including retail “shout-outs” on their Facebook page. “In early 2019, we spent a week in a major blueberry growing region of Chile and produced three consumer videos and one trade video. They’re all incredibly effective at bringing the country to life… showing beautiful scenes from the country, orchards, and people.”
