The Irvine-based California Avocado Commission will square up against a chief rival in more ways than one when it kicks off a new marketing campaign just in time for Cinco de Mayo.
The commission is supported by the state’s nearly 5,000 avocado growers, whose main competition is imports from Mexico.
Cinco de Mayo has grown from a Mexican-American holiday—it marks the defeat of French forces by the Mexican army in Puebla on May 5, 1862—to an ethnic celebration that’s approaching St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S in prominence.
The Mexican theme makes the holiday prime time for avocados. The commission estimates that more than 87 million pounds of avocados will be consumed nationwide during festivities for this year’s Cinco de Mayo.
Last year the commission doled out $11.5 million of its $16.9 million annual budget on marketing efforts.
It was money well spent, according to its 2012 Avocado Attitude and Usage Tracking Study, which showed that the Mexican avocado brand has “gained some ground from 2011, but still has much lower ad awareness in comparison to California [avocados]—16% vs. 40%.”
The marketing campaign will feature celebrity chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, who own the Border Grill Restaurants in downtown Los Angeles and Las Vegas and star on the Too Hot Tamales show on the Food Network. Brunch recipes from the two will be part of the campaign.
The commission also is reaching out to avocado fans through social media. Its Facebook page features Cinco de Mayo sweepstakes with chances to win cash prizes and fresh avocados. Other marketing efforts include online banner advertising, as well as a blogger recipe contest.
The state’s avocado growers have more than competition from growers in Mexico to confront lately.
Wholesale prices averaged $1.52 a pound—with the total California crop valued at $460 million—in the 2010-11 season. Last season saw the average price drop by nearly half, to 82 cents a pound, with total crop value at $381 million.
A recent report by the commission shows that the average has continued to fall this season and was 61 cents per pound from November 2012 to January of this year.
Ocean Media Loses Experian
Experian PLC, which is based in Dublin, Ireland, with North American headquarters in Costa Mesa, has shifted its media planning and buying from Ocean Media in Huntington Beach to OMD.
OMD is a unit of New York-based Omnicom Group.
Ocean Media had handled the media portion of the account, with creative by Martin Agency of Richmond, Va., which scored hits with its popular struggling-band spots for Experian’s FreeCreditReport.com and FreeCreditScore.com
Experian’s other Web-based ventures include ConsumerInfo.com, CreditExpert.com and CreditMatters.com. The company specializes in online consumer credit reports and products. It spent an estimated $65 million marketing its FreeCreditScore.com, according to Kantar Media.
“We are thrilled to welcome #Experian to the #OMD family!!” the new agency of record posted on its Twitter feed.
No announcements came from Ocean Media’s camp, which had served as Experian’s media-buying agency since 1999. Other longtime clients include Priceline.com (14 years of service), Overstock.com (nine years), and Angie’s List (four years).
Ocean Media had about $300 million in billings in 2012. Last month the agency renewed its media-buying and planning contract with another long-term client, eHarmony.com, following a two-year break.
MAG Media Consolidates
MAG Media Group is consolidating management of its two motorcycle publications—Irvine-based Cycle News and MotorcycleUSA.com in Medford, Ore.
Sean Finley, general manager of Cycle News for the past 2 ½ years, will take the same title and add duties as advertising director of MAG Media Group.
MotorcycleUSA.com’s Ken Hutchison will become the group’s director of marketing and business development.
Paul Carruthers, the longtime editor of Cycle News, will now lead both publications as editorial director.
“I’m looking forward to my new role within the MAG Media Group,” Carruthers said in a press release. “We have two solid teams in place with both entities and I’m excited to see the progress we will make as we continue collaborating.”
Irvine-based Cycle News started out as a weekly print publication in 1965. It was shut down in August 2010 and resurfaced as a digital publication in February 2011.
MotorcycleUSA.com was founded in 1996 as a “one stop source for all things motorcycle related.”
The two will continue to operate as separate publications “dedicated to delivering the unique and quality editorial content that readers expect,” the press release noted.
