Seeds of Change Samples its Organic Products
#21 Best Campaign on a Budget (under $250,000)
INSPIRE CHANGE
AGENCY: Alcone Marketing
CLIENT: Seeds of Change
To understand why this promotion worked, you must first understand Seeds of Change. The company began selling organic seeds in 1989, and expanded to offer certified organic pasta sauces, frozen entrees, salad dressings, chocolate and other food products made from organic ingredients.
The goal of the campaign was to boost awareness and sales in Boston, support local retailers, and get samples into the hands of people who were likely to buy the products.
The work focused on the Green Line train that carries highly educated professionals with high household incomes to and from work. The line is also a play on the “green” lifestyle and the brand’s mission.
“The Green Line synced up with who our consumer is, and from that perspective we knew we had a really good fit,” says Ray Gottschalk, senior vice president, group account director for Alcone Marketing.
From there, the plans unfolded with a focus on sampling, a good way to stretch a small budget.
“The key is to be focused,” he says. “We really wanted to make sure that we maximized every dollar spent and focused our energy on all of the components that we knew were really going to work.”
Twenty-one sampling events were held at two busy train stations across seven days. The stations were “totally plastered” with Seeds of Change branding, both inside the trains and out.
About 28,500 full-size samples of chocolate — a treat that could be enjoyed then and there — were given to commuters during afternoon and evening mealtimes. Another 41,000 recipe cards were handed out, along with brochures, coupons and blank post-it notes so, if they wanted to, recipients could write down their own efforts to change and have them posted nearby.
“There were thousands of notes that we collected,” says Luis Camano, senior vice president, group creative director at Alcone Marketing. “That became bigger than what we thought it would be. It was a nice surprise. There was a lot of engagement.”
The theme of the campaign “Inspire Change” was wrapped on 10 bike pedicabs that circled through stations ferrying people to and from the local Whole Foods and Shaw’s grocery stores, where the products were sold. The bikes carried messages like: “Powered by lunch, not by pollutants,” and “Driver carries only 20 carbon footprints.”
“At first, people were kind of leery, but the message was clear and the word spread,” Camano says.
The buzz caught on: Total brand sales at a major retailer increased by 69% in September through November, as compared to the same period in 2006, with no changes in distribution.
“We wanted to focus on getting the message to folks who could literally find the product in their grocery stores on the way home,” Gottschalk says.
Event signage, radio spots, e-mail blasts and a Web site also supported the promo. One e-mail blast was sent to 35,000 subscribers to Daily Candy, a daily newsletter targeting women, that offered a $20 train ticket to a certain number of first responders.
Based on the success, the program is rolling out in year two and, in addition to Boston, will run in two other markets.
IDEA TO STEAL: STAY TRUE
Stay true to the nature of the product. In this case, brand reps wore T-shirts made of cotton, and brochures were printed on recycled paper. The campaign focused on people traveling by train instead of by car. “Everything we did stayed true to the green nature of the products,” Gottschalk says.
