T&A hopes to hit a home run with retail promotion
T&A hopes to hit a home run with retail promotion
Tanimura & Antle is hoping consumers step up to the plate with a fork instead of a baseball bat, but with baseball and fathers -- and the company's Iceberg lettuce -- in mind.
The Salinas-based lettuce giant is introducing its "Hit A Home Run This Father's Day" retail promotion with Iceberg lettuce wrapped in a baseball theme. The idea is for T&A to stake a marketing claim to Father's Day as its own. It may be an easy fit for a company looking for a holiday and a holiday in need of a commodity.
T&A captures a baseball theme with an image of red baseball-like stitches on the wrappers of its individually wrapped Iceberg lettuce. Additionally, the wrapper includes an Iceberg wedge salad recipe framed with a look of a baseball card. The words "Iceberg lettuce" appear inside a pennant. The idea of a pennant carries over to in-store displays. T&A will provide retailers with generic pennant artwork that they can blow up to whatever size they choose to put up their own pennants, said Lara Grossman, T&A's director of business and marketing development, who helped formulate this promotion.
"[T&A Chief Executive officer] Rick Antle had wanted a holiday associated with the company," Ms. Grossman said, adding that it was Mr. Antle's decision for the company to "own" Father's Day.
The decision was made to focus on Iceberg lettuce, a mature category that could use a marketing boost, Ms. Grossman said. There is an intertwining of Father's Day, families and baseball, she said, and T&A has tried to corral that with this promotion.
"Baseball is a common denominator," Ms. Grossman said. Baseball is loaded with universal, catchy phrasing -- such as unlimited applications for using the term "hit a home run" - and T&A has provided much of that with its promotional materials for retailers.
In a press release, Mr. Antle said that retailers "can increase sales and create excitement in the produce department," while T&A gets a chance "to remind consumers that Iceberg lettuce is still a perennial favorite -- for Father's Day or any day."
Retail players in the United States and Canada that will participate in this year's promotion are Albertsons, Ingles, Harris Teeter, Jewel-Osco, Meijer, Price Chopper, The Produce/Grocery People, Schnucks, Shaw's, Thrifty Foods, Wal-Mart and Weis Markets.
With the help of ad support materials supplied by T&A, retailers will promote Iceberg lettuce in weekly ad circulars and with in-store displays. In turn, T&A will provide a promotional price on specially wrapped Iceberg lettuce 24s and will sweeten retailers' efforts by offering prizes for the best ads and displays.
T&A also is promoting Iceberg for Father's Day through consumer public- relations efforts. It has provided food and lifestyle editors with several Iceberg-wedge salad recipes and photos, and will launch a special splash page on its web site (www.taproduce.com) just prior to Father's Day that provides recipes and ideas directly to consumers.
The first shipments will go out to an East Coast retailer and should be in the store the week of May 28. More retailers will be looking for their shipments the first week in June, just in time for Father's Day, Ms. Grossman said.
"We think we'll go through the volume," Ms. Grossman said. "[The promotion is] six to eight weeks, maybe longer." She said that the concept is an "evergreen" promotion, not a one-time promotion just for the upcoming Father's Day holiday.
The Salinas-based lettuce giant is introducing its "Hit A Home Run This Father's Day" retail promotion with Iceberg lettuce wrapped in a baseball theme. The idea is for T&A to stake a marketing claim to Father's Day as its own. It may be an easy fit for a company looking for a holiday and a holiday in need of a commodity.
T&A captures a baseball theme with an image of red baseball-like stitches on the wrappers of its individually wrapped Iceberg lettuce. Additionally, the wrapper includes an Iceberg wedge salad recipe framed with a look of a baseball card. The words "Iceberg lettuce" appear inside a pennant. The idea of a pennant carries over to in-store displays. T&A will provide retailers with generic pennant artwork that they can blow up to whatever size they choose to put up their own pennants, said Lara Grossman, T&A's director of business and marketing development, who helped formulate this promotion.
"[T&A Chief Executive officer] Rick Antle had wanted a holiday associated with the company," Ms. Grossman said, adding that it was Mr. Antle's decision for the company to "own" Father's Day.
The decision was made to focus on Iceberg lettuce, a mature category that could use a marketing boost, Ms. Grossman said. There is an intertwining of Father's Day, families and baseball, she said, and T&A has tried to corral that with this promotion.
"Baseball is a common denominator," Ms. Grossman said. Baseball is loaded with universal, catchy phrasing -- such as unlimited applications for using the term "hit a home run" - and T&A has provided much of that with its promotional materials for retailers.
In a press release, Mr. Antle said that retailers "can increase sales and create excitement in the produce department," while T&A gets a chance "to remind consumers that Iceberg lettuce is still a perennial favorite -- for Father's Day or any day."
Retail players in the United States and Canada that will participate in this year's promotion are Albertsons, Ingles, Harris Teeter, Jewel-Osco, Meijer, Price Chopper, The Produce/Grocery People, Schnucks, Shaw's, Thrifty Foods, Wal-Mart and Weis Markets.
With the help of ad support materials supplied by T&A, retailers will promote Iceberg lettuce in weekly ad circulars and with in-store displays. In turn, T&A will provide a promotional price on specially wrapped Iceberg lettuce 24s and will sweeten retailers' efforts by offering prizes for the best ads and displays.
T&A also is promoting Iceberg for Father's Day through consumer public- relations efforts. It has provided food and lifestyle editors with several Iceberg-wedge salad recipes and photos, and will launch a special splash page on its web site (www.taproduce.com) just prior to Father's Day that provides recipes and ideas directly to consumers.
The first shipments will go out to an East Coast retailer and should be in the store the week of May 28. More retailers will be looking for their shipments the first week in June, just in time for Father's Day, Ms. Grossman said.
"We think we'll go through the volume," Ms. Grossman said. "[The promotion is] six to eight weeks, maybe longer." She said that the concept is an "evergreen" promotion, not a one-time promotion just for the upcoming Father's Day holiday.
