A staggering 70 per cent of consumers in Spain prefer bananas from the Canary Islands to other destinations and they are willing to pay more for the islands’ fruit thanks to the promotional campaigns run in recent years by Asprocan, the Canary Island banana producers’ association, in conjunction with our marketing agency agr! agro in Spain. But until last year a percentage of Spanish shoppers was still purchasing Central American-grown bananas by mistake.
To address the issue, in 2008 agr! agro developed a strategic marketing campaign focusing on raising consumer awareness of the origin of Canary Island bananas via media advertising and point-of-sale activities. Our aim was to encourage consumers to pay attention to the country of origin and ensure demand for Canary Islands bananas at the point of sale.
And the results have been significant. In the last year, the growth in sales and brand value has exceeded our expectations. The number of loyal Canary Island consumers has grown by 30 per cent, while brand value has increased among 97 per cent of all banana buyers – including the 90 per cent who were already buying Canary Island bananas and an additional 7 per cent of those who were previously confused.
To achieve this, agr! agro developed two specific campaigns designed to suit both the winter and summer months. During the first half of 2008 we decided to continue our collaboration with Disney and took advantage of the DVD launch of the classic Disney movie 101 Dalmatians. Although one might wonder what a Dalmatian dog has in common with a Canary Island banana, the answer is simple – Canary Island bananas are instantly recognisable by their black specks.
With that in mind, we developed activities reaching out to Spanish wholesalers, major supermarket chains, small retailers, buyers, consumers and opinion leaders. We designed letters, displays, posters, cards, leaflets, among other materials, and took an innovative approach to the PR campaign by creating an interactive website and even including our leaflet inside the 101 Dalmatians DVD cases.
At a retail level, leading Spanish supermarket chains including Eroski and Carrefour engaged in the promotion and even offered us free space to spread our message via in-store magazines. The numbers of participating small retailers and consumers also increased by 49 per cent and 20 per cent respectively, in comparison to the figures recorded in 2007 when we ran a similar promotion with the Disney movie The Jungle Book.
For the summer promotion, we focused on making Canary Island bananas appetising to eat during the warm months, which is not an easy task given the competition from traditionally refreshing products such as summer fruits, juices, milkshakes and ice creams.
That said, agr! agro ran a well-received print campaign in 15 newspapers and consumer magazines nationwide, informing readers about the summer uses of bananas – as a natural ingredient for milkshakes and ice creams, among other products.
With some 70 per cent of consumers making purchase decisions in store, both summer and winter activities were supported by point-of-sale promotions. These included large floor stickers right in front of shelves stocking Canary Island bananas (to avoid any possible confusion about the country of origin), prizes and the distribution of 500 exclusive displays and recycled bags.
Meanwhile, an impressive 16m Spanish consumers were also reached through a TV campaign, which resulted in 32 mentions and product placement opportunities during the major programmes.
Additionally, and, for the first time, agr! agro remained in touch with the growers at all stages of the promotion. By regularly sending them updates on the development of the campaign the sector remained united and had an opportunity to feel proud of the campaign’s results and achievements.
During the course of the year agr! agro also generated a database of extremely valuable data from both retailers and consumers, which we will continue to use for the benefit of future marketing campaigns.
