FTC looks to restore confidence with new marketing programs
FTC looks to restore confidence with new marketing programs
NAPLES, FL -- The Florida Tomato Committee is aggressively going after consumers with several new marketing programs to let them know that Florida tomatoes will soon be back on store shelves and are safe to eat.
The committee will utilize print, radio and "guerrilla marketing" tactics to target shoppers and get in front of them at home, in their cars and where they shop and play to generate consumer awareness in an unexpected way, Samantha Winters, the committee's director of promotion and education, told attendees at the organization's annual meeting, held here at the Ritz-Carlton Naples as part of the 33rd Joint Tomato Conference.
"I'm not going to talk about yesterday's news, we've had too much of that over the past couple months. What I'm going to talk to you about is something more important, and that's the future and how we want to gain consumer trust and increase retail demand," Ms. Winters said.
Instead of a national campaign, the committee will focus its efforts on 15 markets on the East Coast that have the most potential for Florida tomatoes: Portland, ME; Boston; Albany, NY; New York City; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Richmond, VA; Raleigh and Charlotte, NC; Greenville, SC; Atlanta; and Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami, FL.
The campaign will work to increase awareness and trials of its products utilizing themes such as "From Our Family to Yours" and "The Things We Do to Put Food on Your Table."
"We are trying to get across that we're not big corporate entities that are producing widgets in a laboratory," she said. "We want to put a face on the grower and humanize our industry again. The commercials are really trying to impart our trust, we need it and is important to us, and we plan on keeping it."
The campaign will "partner with strategic retailers" in the markets to "generate increasing display activity as well as grabbing attention of the media to make sure Florida tomatoes are a positive story on the six o'clock news."
Retailers that partner with the committee's program will be offered free 20- second tags during its radio ads that can be customized for retailers in each market. The ads, which will be broadcast for a full week on Clear Channel radio stations during the weeks of Nov. 10 and Jan. 5, will total approximately 770 radio spots delivering 6.2 million listeners, she said.
The committee will also have two half-page, color advertisements in Parade magazine, a popular supplement in Sunday newspapers that has a loyal following and one that Ms. Winters said has readers spending more time per page -- 59 seconds vs. 21 seconds or less for other similar magazines and papers.
The ads, which will run on Nov. 16 and a date to be determined in March, will appear in 62 papers in the 15 targeted markets, giving the committee access that it would not be able to afford had it advertised separately in each of those papers.
It will also conduct the first-ever tomato art contest and tour that will bring a traveling tomato art exhibit and mini-tomato festival to major food retailers and foodservice operators in the 15 cities from Nov. 14 through Dec. 19 to showcase the beauty, exquisite taste and nutritional benefits of Florida- grown tomatoes, she said.
A panel of judges will select 15 winners, one from each of the target cities. Each winner will receive $1,000 and qualify to win a grand prize of $2,000. The winning art works will be auctioned off to benefit the Produce for Better Health Foundation.
As part of the tour, consumers will be educated about measures Florida tomato growers have instituted to ensure the safety of Florida field-grown tomatoes, including new packing and sanitation practices. It will also enable the committee to directly reach and get involved with consumers in key markets via sampling, exhibitions and local publicity. The tour's activities will also be tracked on an Internet microsite.
In addition to the FTC's new campaign, the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services also has a retailer incentive program that encourages retailers to buy Florida produce and advertise it in their circulars. The program, which has retailers in 41 U.S. states and Canada, had more than 24,000 chain ads last year.
This year the organization will promote Florida tomatoes in November in an effort to increase sales at the beginning of the season.
George Hochmuth of the University of Florida's Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences briefed attendees about several research projects currently underway at the university, including new varieties of Florida field tomatoes such as Fla. 8153 or "Tasti-Lee," a high-lycopene content, premium-quality vine ripe tomato to compete against greenhouse-grown products.
It is also working on research to identify and target the disruption of Salmonella genes that are required for tomato contamination.
"We have isolated genes that give Salmonella an advantage to grow into a tomato," he said, noting that the research might allow scientists to design a defense mechanism for tomatoes to ward off a Salmonella contamination.
The committee will utilize print, radio and "guerrilla marketing" tactics to target shoppers and get in front of them at home, in their cars and where they shop and play to generate consumer awareness in an unexpected way, Samantha Winters, the committee's director of promotion and education, told attendees at the organization's annual meeting, held here at the Ritz-Carlton Naples as part of the 33rd Joint Tomato Conference.
"I'm not going to talk about yesterday's news, we've had too much of that over the past couple months. What I'm going to talk to you about is something more important, and that's the future and how we want to gain consumer trust and increase retail demand," Ms. Winters said.
Instead of a national campaign, the committee will focus its efforts on 15 markets on the East Coast that have the most potential for Florida tomatoes: Portland, ME; Boston; Albany, NY; New York City; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Richmond, VA; Raleigh and Charlotte, NC; Greenville, SC; Atlanta; and Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Miami, FL.
The campaign will work to increase awareness and trials of its products utilizing themes such as "From Our Family to Yours" and "The Things We Do to Put Food on Your Table."
"We are trying to get across that we're not big corporate entities that are producing widgets in a laboratory," she said. "We want to put a face on the grower and humanize our industry again. The commercials are really trying to impart our trust, we need it and is important to us, and we plan on keeping it."
The campaign will "partner with strategic retailers" in the markets to "generate increasing display activity as well as grabbing attention of the media to make sure Florida tomatoes are a positive story on the six o'clock news."
Retailers that partner with the committee's program will be offered free 20- second tags during its radio ads that can be customized for retailers in each market. The ads, which will be broadcast for a full week on Clear Channel radio stations during the weeks of Nov. 10 and Jan. 5, will total approximately 770 radio spots delivering 6.2 million listeners, she said.
The committee will also have two half-page, color advertisements in Parade magazine, a popular supplement in Sunday newspapers that has a loyal following and one that Ms. Winters said has readers spending more time per page -- 59 seconds vs. 21 seconds or less for other similar magazines and papers.
The ads, which will run on Nov. 16 and a date to be determined in March, will appear in 62 papers in the 15 targeted markets, giving the committee access that it would not be able to afford had it advertised separately in each of those papers.
It will also conduct the first-ever tomato art contest and tour that will bring a traveling tomato art exhibit and mini-tomato festival to major food retailers and foodservice operators in the 15 cities from Nov. 14 through Dec. 19 to showcase the beauty, exquisite taste and nutritional benefits of Florida- grown tomatoes, she said.
A panel of judges will select 15 winners, one from each of the target cities. Each winner will receive $1,000 and qualify to win a grand prize of $2,000. The winning art works will be auctioned off to benefit the Produce for Better Health Foundation.
As part of the tour, consumers will be educated about measures Florida tomato growers have instituted to ensure the safety of Florida field-grown tomatoes, including new packing and sanitation practices. It will also enable the committee to directly reach and get involved with consumers in key markets via sampling, exhibitions and local publicity. The tour's activities will also be tracked on an Internet microsite.
In addition to the FTC's new campaign, the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services also has a retailer incentive program that encourages retailers to buy Florida produce and advertise it in their circulars. The program, which has retailers in 41 U.S. states and Canada, had more than 24,000 chain ads last year.
This year the organization will promote Florida tomatoes in November in an effort to increase sales at the beginning of the season.
George Hochmuth of the University of Florida's Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences briefed attendees about several research projects currently underway at the university, including new varieties of Florida field tomatoes such as Fla. 8153 or "Tasti-Lee," a high-lycopene content, premium-quality vine ripe tomato to compete against greenhouse-grown products.
It is also working on research to identify and target the disruption of Salmonella genes that are required for tomato contamination.
"We have isolated genes that give Salmonella an advantage to grow into a tomato," he said, noting that the research might allow scientists to design a defense mechanism for tomatoes to ward off a Salmonella contamination.
