The Almond Board of California (ABC) is taking some new marketing approaches for the new crop year. A domestic campaign featuring Hall of Fame athlete Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders is kicking with the football season. Additionally, ABC is looking to increase demand in other key markets with new campaigns. One market of interest is Germany, which is the largest European market and fourth-largest market overall for California almonds.
“We are launching a new ad campaign which is titled ‘The Mother of All Snacks’,” said Almond Board CEO Richard Waycott. “We’ve been working on the German market for several years to try and improve or increase almond snacking.”
A television campaign will be launched in Germany, complimented by digital advertising on a variety of different platforms. Another sports pairing that will be taking place as part of the new marketing approaches revolves around the ICC Cricket World Cup. The event will be held in India, which is the largest export market for California almonds. “The market has grown by 250 million pounds in the past six years. It’s now right around 400 million pounds a year that we export to India. And we think there’s a long way to go there in terms of further demographic consumption around the country,” Waycott explained.
The campaign will feature commercials during the games, along with billboards in major cities as the country hosts the ICC Cricket World Cup in October and November. Director of Operations for Campos Brothers Farms and Chair of the Board of Directors for ABC, Alexi Rodriguez said the new campaigns will help maximize ongoing marketing efforts. Rodriguez noted that the Board has been working on a way to ensure that ABC market development resources are being optimally allocated.
“What we tasked staff with was the developing of what ultimately has turned into what we’re calling Project Theia. It’s a project with the third-party strategic consulting firm that we engaged in to really help us strategically position California almonds for the future,” said Rodriguez. “Findings from the project will be coming out soon and after we have the chance to sort of digest everything we’ll be evaluating and repositioning our approaches as needed.”
Listen to the segment below.
Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West