Integrated Marketing: Dole Fresh Vegetables

MATTHEW ENIS

• Dole introduced new packaging for its bagged salad line that helped educate shoppers and simplify their experience with the category.
• Marketing efforts included television ads, public relations, programs on social media sites, in-store campaigns, on-pack promotions and more, which helped reinvigorate the entire category.
• Find Your Inspiration campaign is engaging customers with new ideas, while encouraging them to share those ideas with other salad fans on social media sites.

In 2009, the packaged salad category was suffering from a case of the “blahs.” Earlier in the decade, bagged salad mixes had been one of the most dynamic, fastest-growing categories in the produce department, but that growth had long-since stalled.

A marketing campaign education taught consumers all about leafy greens.

“The category was not only declining, [household] penetration was falling and frequency was down as well,” said Ronda Reed, vice president of marketing for Dole Fresh Vegetables. “It was not going in the right way, and it didn't make a lot of sense. It's such a great product, and people want to eat healthy. There was no reason for this category to be declining like that.”

So, the team at Dole began investigating the problem. Consumer research quickly revealed that bagged salad buyers were stuck in a rut, purchasing the same thing again and again. What's worse, most people did not understand the flavor characteristics of different leafy greens, which led them to be overly cautious in their product choices. If they expect romaine and they bring home arugula, not knowing the difference, it could be a disappointing experience.

“The package really wasn't communicating anything but the variety name, and usually, the variety names didn't make a lot of sense to the consumer anyway, they just knew that it was the one they always bought,” Reed explained. “It got to the point where if that one item was out of stock, they actually would forgo purchasing in the category.”

Dole needed a marketing plan that would educate shoppers, help them experiment with new blends, offer new ideas for recipes and meals, and bring some excitement back into the category. The company began by redesigning its salad packaging with a clean, modern look featuring an easy-to-understand salad guide with separate taste and texture scales. “Taste” ranges from sweet/subtle to complex/robust and zesty/bold. “Textures” include tender, crisp and crunchy. The guide makes it easy for shoppers to find blends that are similar to their familiar favorites, while also letting them know what to expect when they're feeling more adventurous. Rotating “pairs well with” suggestions also offered recipe and dressing ideas tailored to each blend.

“We were finding that just the changing of the packaging itself — before we even started doing our communication on a mass scale — was more informative to people, it was more motivating,” Reed said. “The packages were a lot easier to shop, and it was a lot more fun.”

Then, the marketing push began — television ads, a public relations campaign, programs on social media sites, in-store campaigns and on-pack promotions, blogger sweepstakes. With this comprehensive marketing effort, Dole reintroduced its salads and reinvigorated a key category in supermarket produce departments.

Lately, Dole has really stepped up its efforts in digital and social media. The Dole Salad Guide site on Facebook currently has over 200,000 followers. And, the company's latest campaign “Find Your Inspiration” has kept building the ranks. Fans of the Facebook site can register for sweepstakes and instant prizes. Currently, for example, Dole is offering three couples the chance to win a trip to California and a dance lesson with Cheryl Burke, two-time champion of Dancing with the Stars, who is also prominently featured in Dole's advertising campaign.

Or, shoppers can find their inspiration at the point of sale, using their smartphones to scan QR codes that lead to recipe ideas, pairing suggestions and nutrition information.

Find Your Inspiration “is all about creativity,” Reed said. “We're finding that people want to be inspired, they want to be creative … we want [customers] to think about their salads before they get in the kitchen. Get inspired when they go to the grocery store. One of the main things we're trying to do with this campaign is not only to boost sales of the packaged salads, but to boost sales of all the produce and other items around them.”