During The Almond Conference, Managing Director at SRG, Mickey Citarella highlighted some of the strategic marketing approaches the Almond Board of California (ABC) is taking to help drive demand. A significant component of the strategy is navigating what Citarella referred to as the “attention economy.” Citarella described it as “multiple entities are now working to capture what’s one of our most scarce resources right now, which is our mental engagement.”
The average consumer spends over three hours a day scrolling through their phone. Citarella noted that equates to about 300 feet of content being scrolled through. The challenge is breaking through the overwhelming amount of content to make an impact. ABC is taking a meticulous approach first focusing on the key aspects of the reputation of almonds. “We’re consistently doing nutrition research and communicating those benefits to ensure that consumers around the globe know that almonds are one of the healthiest snacks on the planet,” Citarella explained.
As part of that focus on reputation, communicating the stewardship story of almond production is another key component. “We first focus on making sure we’re building that reputation and consistently talk about it in the market. Then the next piece is, how do we drive relevancy in all the different markets around the globe?” said Citarella.
ABC has a variety of strategic marketing approaches specifically designed for individual markets from the Own Your Prime campaign in the U.S., to cricket-focused initiatives in India, and the Mother of All Snacks campaign in Germany. All of the efforts are crafted to resonate with consumers in different markets. Citarella said the key is to communicate those core messages in a way that is specific to each individual platform, whether it be traditional media or social media.
“The best approach that you can have is to have a singular message that can uniquely manifest in the marketplace in a way that resonates with each channel,” said Citarella. “Gone are the days where you can just do one advertisement and it works for everything. You have to find that little unique thing that’s going to get consumers to stop scrolling on their phone. To stop and pay attention to your message. One key idea expressed in many different unique ways in the marketing ecosystem.”
The Building Demand For California Almonds presentation from The Almond Conference 2023 is available online.
Listen to Citarella’s interview below.
Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West