When I first saw those California Raisins singing and dancing to Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," my first reaction was jealousy. I wanted to be one of those raisins -- and to be having that much fun. My second reaction was that I was witnessing some very good advertising that was about to change the way food boards and associations would be promoting their products.
Well, it's taken a few more years than I thought (or hoped), but finally we are seeing a glimmer of change in trade board advertising. This new breed of advertising is clever, entertaining and effective.
The award-winning California Milk Processors' "Got Milk?" campaign is going national. According to CMP, this campaign halted the decline in milk consumption within California and in some areas showed an increase in consumption. Why has this state association been effective at doing what has eluded the national boards? Simply put, its advertising strategy and message reached the heart and soul of the consumer. It did not preach recipes or health or nutrition or disease prevention. Instead, it went to our most primal emotions and with humor showed us how milk was our savior. All this without using one celebrity. As a result, its success and renown are beginning to wake up the other food groups. Just imagine a food conference where the chairman doesn't get up and report that because of changing demographics or consumer trends or a new book or some other excuse, industry sales are declining.
Advertising is powerful. Too often the large boards with all their mega ad budgets have chosen to play the safe, reactive or just simply boring role. Part of it is inherent in the process of directing, creating and approving advertising by a committee of a board of a member association. This has to change. The committees must put the same expertise and smarts on the table as they do for their own brands. And if they don't, it's time to put those that will in the room, whether they are retailers, manufacturers, farmers or marketers. We need the right people, not just the titles.
Phil Lempert is a nationally syndicated columnist for the Chicago Tribune and a correspondent for the Today Show.
