Michigan asparagus sees major wins across key markets
Michigan asparagus sees major wins across key markets
The Michigan asparagus season concluded one week earlier than usual with ample volume available for summer festivities. To drive sales, the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board enacted marketing strategies, including retail promotions, influencer marketing and digital campaigns that further emphasized the importance of buying local and how that translates into supporting communities one spear at a time.
With barbecues, summer parties and gatherings aplenty, shoppers sought to add flavor and flair back into their recipe lineup, providing Michigan asparagus a platform to showcase the vegetable’s nutritional value. As healthy eating has continued to prevail, incorporating 12 unique and innovative recipes resulted in more than 37,500 social media impressions.
The MAAB continued investing in its product by strengthening its social media presence by incorporating vibrant imagery, videos and working with recipe creators. These content creators not only developed new content but took their followers on a journey to learn more about the field to table process as well as educating them about the families responsible for growing Michigan asparagus. This year’s influencers included a college student and his dog as the “creator/talent” and a mom/recipe creator — both target a mix of Gen-Z individuals and Millennial families. Overall analytics garnered 44,000 engagements with a total reach of more than 19,000.
The MAAB worked with eight key retailers across the Midwest making a significant investment in digital campaigns, point of sale, and in-store demos to drive the locally grown and locally sourced messaging home. With the goal to increase brand awareness and tell the story about why incorporating a dynamic vegetable brings meals to life, this year’s mix of traditional and programmatic advertising reached thousands of consumers, showing people want to know where their food comes from.
“When it comes to superior quality and premium flavor, Michigan asparagus has it all,” said Jamie Clover Adams, executive director of MAAB. “By enacting new and eye-catching strategies and highlighting the vibrant yet nutritious nature of our favorite vegetable, we created a great teaser that ultimately translated into higher foot traffic and an increase in sales during key purchasing periods.”
