The Almond Board of California (ABC) continues to invest in developing market opportunities on behalf of the industry. A tremendous amount of research and analysis is conducted to refine marketing efforts to have the most impact on driving global demand for almonds. ABC Vice President of Global Market Development, Emily Fleischmann said marketing approaches are based on individual markets.
“We go into every market and in each one, we identify what target audience we think has the most upside in terms of volume potential and changing their behavior to consume more almonds,” Fleischmann explained. “Then we develop programs customized to that audience. We look for groups that give us a broad reach but also the ones we think we can impact.”
Once audiences in different markets are identified, an outreach plan is developed to optimize the impact of almond messaging. Each market can have a particular messaging approach based on cultural practices and market priorities. In eastern Asian counties, the vitamin E content of almonds is highlighted, while an existing cultural connection with almonds is promoted in India. Each strategy is based on a variety of research efforts and is designed to expand existing market opportunities and cultivate new consumers.
“Every year we do a deep evaluation of the markets that we’re in to try to make sure that with the funds we have available, we have the right portfolio. So, there are some new markets that we’re looking into,” said Fleischmann. “We think there’s still tremendous potential in the markets that we’re in whether it be China, or India, or even honestly, the U.S. So more to come there and we’re continuing to build our learnings in some of the innovative things we’ve been doing across the globe.”
Listen to Fleischmann’s interview below.
About the Author
