Stemilt Growers’ newest apple, Rave, made its first of 12 stops in Minneapolis on Aug. 20. The Stemilt team is promoting the Honeycrisp successor across the Midwest and East Coast during the first-ever #RaveRoadTrip. The trip covers over 1,700 miles and will take Rave through six states before wrapping up in New Jersey just after Labor Day.
“We’re excited to hit the road with Rave apples,” said Brianna Shales, Stemilt’s communications manager. “The #RaveRoadTrip taps into the success of last year’s Rave apple pop-up shop in New York City. Now, we’ve taken that concept to the road with a first-of-its-kind pop-up-shop-on-wheels activation for an apple brand.”
At each hard-to-miss activation site, the Rave Road Trip truck is parked alongside multiple Rave-themed stations for consumers to explore. Stemilt started the road trip off in Minnesota because that is where Rave was first discovered. During the first stop near Minneapolis, the Stemilt crew had fun sharing Rave samples under a branded tent, while shoppers made great use of an Instagram-worthy porch swing. Consumers also had the chance to enter to win a sweepstakes of multiple prizes that will allow them to take in experiences and attractions that are unique to their hometown.
“This type of event helps us build the Rave brand one consumer at a time,” said Shales. “We’re also celebrating the best things about each city we are stopping at through sweepstakes and swag giveaways. It’s a fun way to build community pride and awareness of this up-and-coming apple that’s now in season.”
Stemilt’s teams are also using word-of-mouth marketing through social media platforms and hashtags. Stemilt encourages all consumers who participate at the activation sites to use hashtags like #RaveRoadTrip and #RaveApples so Rave fans can tune in and see what is happening with Rave on social media. Stemilt’s team will also be hosting live sessions on their social media channels to let fans experience the excitement digitally and answer questions viewers might have.
“Whether they get to experience a Road Trip stop first-hand, or find Rave apples in a local grocery store, we want to encourage people to try and then rave about this new apple with their family and friends,” said Shales.
2019 marks the third year that Rave has been on the market. A cross between the famous Honeycrisp variety and the unreleased MonArk, Rave is a juicy apple with a refreshing snappy zing. It’s a successor to both the Honeycrisp and SweeTango varieties and was developed through natural cross-pollination methods at the University of Minnesota by famous apple breeder David Bedford. Stemilt holds the rights to market Rave apples in North America. Stemilt has its largest crop of Rave yet this season and expects the apple to be available in stores until early October.
“Rave is a fun apple brand and we’re having a blast bringing exciting activations like the Rave Road Trip to life,” said Shales. “We have lots of ground to cover over the next three weeks but are thrilled to get more shoppers into stores to try the outrageously juicy apple that’s they’ll rave about.”
