PMA takes leadership role in new collaboration to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables

Produce Marketing Association (PMA) announced it is a founding supporter of FNV, a new brand that promotes fruit and vegetable consumption to teens and moms using the same marketing tactics that major consumer brands do. The collaboration was announced this morning at the Partnership for a Healthier America’s (PHA) 2015 Building a Healthier Future Summit in Washington, D.C., and aims to market fruits and vegetables as “one big iconic brand.” Behind this new brand is PHA, which works with the private sector to make healthier choices easier for busy parents and families, and award-winning advertising agency Victors and Spoils. FNV includes a host of ideas that haven’t been regularly used by the fresh produce industry – including visuals, a self-aware tone, compelling spokespersons and savvy activations to market fruits and veggies in an innovative way, officials say. Victors & Spoils chief marketing officer Andy Nathan says the idea behind the effort stemmed from a desire to "create a cultural movement behind fruits and vegetables—one that parents will want to support, celebrities will seek to endorse and kids will find intriguing enough to get behind.” He adds that the campaign will employ “in-your-face marketing tactics that go toe-to-toe with other big iconic brands. The days of hum-drum health messages and finger-wagging PSAs are over.” Diversity and socioeconomic criteria were used to select Fresno, California, and Hampton Roads, Virginia, as the first two markets for the campaign, which will be in-market by spring 2015. It will also spread nationally via digital and social networks, and support from well-known celebrities and athletes. “FNV was inspired by big consumer brands, whose tactics are compelling, catchy and drive an emotional connection with their products,” says PHA CEO Lawrence A. Soler. “We want to do the same thing for fruits and veggies, which haven’t had an opportunity to act like a big brand. Until now.” “Initiatives like FNV and eat brighter! signal a turning point for our industry,” says Kevin Fiori, vice president of marketing for Sunkist Growers and PMA Board of Directors chairman. “The message of health just isn’t cutting it with families. They know fresh produce is healthy – they need a reason to listen and care. This kind of marketing effort is something that the PMA Board of Directors believes will resonate on a more radical level and ultimately make fresh produce more attractive. We’re excited to see it expressed in the pilot markets and the associated results.” The PMA Board approved a $1 million investment and the appointment of a marketing task force, comprised of produce industry executives, to support FNV on behalf of the fresh produce industry, officials add. Fiori says, “This is a natural fit for PMA. The association is strategically committed to providing members with marketing opportunities and resources to help grow produce businesses. We’ve witnessed that through eat brighter! and now FNV expands that opportunity once again.”