Spring and Cinco de Mayo Promotions Encourage Brand Awareness

Cinco de Mayo continues to serve as one of the biggest sales drivers for avocados in the United States. To ensure distribution of California avocados arrives to retailers early enough to gain momentum leading into the holiday, the California Avocado Commission partners with targeted customers on early season ad activations that spark interest in the locally grown fruit.

Throughout April and May, Sam’s Club served digital ads to targeted shoppers on desktop and mobile devices delivering more than 5 million impressions to customers most likely to purchase in-store and on the SamsClub.com website. A digital and print magazine ad insertion, as well as social media posts with The Fresh Market garnered 200,000 impressions for the California Avocados brand. Mollie Stone’s, which covers the specialty retail market, featured California avocados in CAC-branded displays with signage showcasing the locally grown nature of the fruit. The retailer hosted a Cinco de Mayo-themed sales contest and featured social media overlays with California avocado recipes. The early season ads featured CAC’s new creative and a “buy now” call to action.

By providing advertising support closer to the point of purchase, the Commission was able to secure commitments for early season distribution when supplies can be spotty. While retail volume of avocados during the Cinco de Mayo holiday week declined 1% compared to last year (due to a decrease in overall supply from Mexico, the California Hass supply increased by 16% from last year. Further, the average retail price increased by 24% in the Western U.S., as compared to last year, for the same time frame.

Data gathered from these early season activations will help the Commission better understand new customer acquisition, retention and brand penetration throughout the ad cycle.