Grocers are gearing up for a second helping of organic foods marketing this spring. About 20 natural food marketers and 47 grocery chains have signed on for Go Organic! for Earth Day, a national campaign promoting organic foods in mainstream supermarkets.
There may be more demand than organizers can afford. The campaign is funded through sponsorships by brands, but the cost of materials — including P-O-P, coupon books and demos — limits the number of stores that Go Organic can reach.
“It’s a [small] baby industry, pooling its resources,” says Michael Martin, president of Minneapolis agency MusicMatters, which handles the campaign for the Organic Trade Association (OTA) and non-profit Earth Day Network.
Martin hopes for 35 chains with a total of 4,000 stores. In its 2005 inaugural push, Go Organic ran in 2,652 stores across 19 grocery chains, with 400,000 P-O-P displays and 1,515 demos. A total of 1.5 million coupon books were distributed; redemption averaged 10% and spiked at 34%.
The campaign boosted sales an average 25% and increased awareness among consumers by 8%. By the end of the eight-week promotion, 70% of U.S. adults knew about organic foods, and 60% of shoppers who saw the campaign bought organic.
Supermarkets will again partner with local Earth Day Network chapters to host some of the 10,000-plus grassroots events the chapters handle. And an educational overlay will target 30,000 teachers, offering them an “Environmental Jeopardy” curriculum via Earth Day Network’s Web site. Last year, postcards to 30,000 teachers prompted 15,000 to download the curriculum. Martin hopes to be in twice as many classrooms this year; meanwhile, at least two grocers will visit local schools with samples of sponsors’ brands.
In 2005, Go Organic was a tough sell. Its tight timeline — a mere three months — made it tricky for brands to plan. And it was an unproven concept, so retailers were skeptical and some execution was half-hearted, with about 70% compliance on displays, Martin says.
They’re enthusiastic now. MusicMatters has already signed 47 chains with nearly 4,000 stores, including 880 Kroger stores and 876 Publix stores. All of Whole Foods Markets’ regional divisions have committed, and Wild Oats has signed up its 110 stores (including Henry’s and Sun Harvest).
The campaign is designed to raise awareness in mainstream stores among shoppers who don’t regularly buy organic. The effort has three goals: to raise awareness; to acknowledge leading organic brands and to lift sales.
“It makes organics seem approachable for mainstream consumers,” Martin says.
Go Organic has seven platinum sponsors: Nature’s Path (cereal and snacks), Silk (soy), Stonyfield Farms (dairy), Earthbound Farms (produce), Hain Celestial (dry grocery), Santa Cruz and Knudsen (both juice). It also has a handful each of gold and silver sponsors.
MusicMatters is also prepping for the third year of its ONE Tour (“Organic and Natural Experience).” The tour, which brings organic brands to festivals, fairs and other events that cater to well educated, upscale consumers, will again travel to 13 cities but will add more event days. Last year, ONE Tour executed 52 event days at 22 community events from March to November. This year, the tour should run nearly every weekend, with more brands expected to join the 17 brands returning from 2005. (The tour had seven brands in 2004.) The ONE Tour ties in with grocers to swap endcap displays in exchange for giving grocers’ bags to ONE Tour visitors to collect product samples.
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