Retailers across Asia and other key export markets are the focus of a major holiday-themed promotional campaign launched by the California Table Grape Commission (CTGC) for the latter part of the 2014 season.
While the CTGC ran a high-profile programme with retailers throughout its international markets to launch the season in May/June, this year the commission is following up with a second round of promotions between September and the end of the season, which runs into the New Year.
“We’ve launched a big late-season promotional push with the retailers that will include various in-store activities, including samplings,” explained Susan Day, vice-president of international marketing at the California Table Grape Commission.
“This is about engaging the retailers more often to keep the excitement. We’re giving them a second chance, a second bite, and re-motivating the buyer.”
Spurring that excitement, the promotions have a holiday theme, with a special Moon Festival promotion that ran across a range of markets in Asia during September.
“We developed unique point-of-purchase (POP) materials to promote grapes during the Moon Festival in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam,” said Day. “The POP materials differ from market to market.”
In addition to launching the in-store activities and bespoke promotional materials, the California Table Grape Commission worked with retailers on cross-promotions for California grapes during the Moon Festival to give the product “a second placement” in the store.
“We asked retailers to stock grapes with festival items such as Moon cakes as well as in their normal place in the produce aisle,” explained Day.
Day said the campaign is “a significant programme with major retailers”, and that they are being targeted both on a regional basis and via an individual country approach.
Christmas build-up
As well as the Moon Cake festival promotion, the commission is running Christmas-themed promotions across various Asian countries where it’s celebrated.As with the Moon Festival, retailers will be targeted to run these themed promotions using unique POP materials and second placements in retail stores, in order to motivate consumer purchase.
The Christmas promotion also plays a key role in other international markets, where additional holiday-themed promotions include Children’s Day activities in Latin America and a Halloween campaign in New Zealand.
The in-store activities are complemented by a range of consumer and media advertising, according to Day.
The expansion of late-season promotions for California grapes comes against the backdrop of an ever-swelling crop.
According to the commission’s pre-season estimate, reaffirmed in July, the industry is on course to pack 116.5m 19lb (8.62kg) cartons this year, which would mark a record for the industry.
