IRVINE, CA -- "We have been having a lot of fun with this year's campaign. It is the most integrated approach we have taken to marketing," said Jan DeLyser, vice president of marketing for the California Avocado Commission, here.

The common theme running through all the commission's marketing programs this year, including consumer advertising, public relations, and retail and foodservice programs, is "Irresistible California Avocados."

Components of the integrated campaign include an on-line consumer sweepstakes challenge, outdoor advertising, radio consumer advertising with retail tags "designed to incentivize promotional activity," a retail California Irresistible Avocado Challenge display contest, an assortment of public relations activities and several online components, Ms. DeLyser explained.

For consumers, the main online component will be a sweepstakes that runs from Feb. 5 to Aug. 31. "There are going to be three hybrid cars given away during the sweepstakes," she said. It will have its own web site at CaliforniaAvocado.com, which will also link to the commission's main web site at CaliforniaAvocado.org. Consumers can link from the sweepstakes web site to the commission's main web site for additional information on California avocados including recipes and usage ideas, Ms. DeLyser explained.

When consumers go onto the sweepstakes web site, they will find an interactive "game show" format similar to a television game show, complete with music, an announcer and a series of fun and amusing questions pertaining to California avocados and consumer preferences.

The "Irresistible" theme and the sweepstakes web site URL (Internet address) will be promoted through outdoor advertising and radio spots as well as in- store through retail displays and point-of-purchase materials. There will also be a print media component to the program in the Southeast.

In California, the commission will be concurrently running a special events marketing effort. "We've got event marketing teams going out to group events in San Diego and Los Angeles and San Francisco during the times that the radio is running." A team of four Prius automobiles displaying "the wrap of the Irresistible California Avocado Challenge" will be driving around the freeways of California like a cluster of moving billboards and showing up at all types of special events, wherever "people are gathered," she said. "It is going to be visible in so many different ways."

The group events marketing concept is being done in California "because we really want to heighten the brand awareness of California avocados" in the state, Ms. DeLyser said. "It is a whole new approach for us" and "another level of integration."

The radio campaign will be conducted in several markets on the West Coast and across the southern tier of states -- Seattle; Portland, OR; Sacramento; San Francisco; Los Angeles; San Diego; Phoenix; Dallas; Houston; San Antonio; and Atlanta. The radio campaign begins in March and continues through August, with the scheduled flights varying according to the market. "We are striking traditional markets," Ms. DeLyser said.

An outdoor advertising campaign will run in the Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix markets in three four-week flights beginning in May and running through mid-August. The campaign will consist of a series of five billboards, each juxtaposing California avocados with something that certain segments of the population would associate with the word "irresistible" -- a puppy, a baby, a handsome lifeguard, an elegant diamond ring and, for the shop-till-you-droppers of the world who cannot resist buying a new pair of shoes, a stylish pump -- and asking the question, "What's more irresistible?" The billboard then directs the consumer to "play at www.CaliforniaAvocado.com."

When consumers go into a participating store, they will see point-of-sales materials that have similar graphic elements. An information package will be sent out to retailers detailing the retail display contest, which will run from mid-February to the end of August. It will inform retailers of the contest, tell them "what's in it for you if you do promote avocados during this time frame," and let them know what supporting materials are available, Ms. DeLyser said. There are buttons for the produce managers to wear and "all sorts of things that tie in with the theme of the program."

Super Bowl weekend has long been a big occasion for avocado consumption, and the California Avocado Commission has actively promoted the concept. Now the commission is trying to extend that success to other sporting events by associating avocado consumption with tailgating in general. "We've identified tailgating as an opportunity for avocados, and we are going to go hard after that," said Ms. DeLyser. "Tailgating transcends all sporting events. It can be baseball or football or soccer." It can also extend beyond sports to other events such as theater events or concerts. "People tailgate in all sorts of activities throughout the year," she said.

(For more on California avocados, see the Feb. 5 issue of The Produce News.)