In 2014, the Florida Department of Agriculture joined forces with creative agency LiveWell Marketing to propel citrus and other items from its Fresh From Florida marketing program all the way to Canada.
“Our team is committed to promoting messages of health, wellness, and living well in general, so it’s very natural to work with agriculture groups,” says Kelly Atyeo-Fick, president of Mississauga, Ontario-based LiveWell Marketing, which operates throughout Canada and its provinces.
“There’s been great synergy between us and the Florida Department of Agriculture, specifically with their Fresh From Florida brand. They’re collaborating with us to execute unique promotions that benefit consumer well being and promote the brand.”
In an effort to create awareness for the Fresh From Florida brand in Ontario and Quebec, LiveWell Marketing launched an experiential campaign running from May 9 to June 3, 2018.
“We wanted to communicate that Fresh From Florida is a reliable, premium, and high-quality choice of produce for Canadians,” Atyeo-Fick says. “One of the keys was going beyond just giving consumers a taste of something from Florida—we wanted them to feel and see the idea of Florida at various locations.”
Dubbed Here Comes Florida! (Voici la Floride! in French), the campaign included outdoor barbecues at various retailers, indoor samplings at Sobeys locations in Ontario, and IGA stores in Quebec, and even a banner-wrapped truck and trailer.
“It was almost like a road tour,” Atyeo-Fick says. “As we were traveling across the highways, millions of people saw this Here Comes Florida! trailer, which was an eye-catching conversation starter, and it also served as a backdrop for the campaign.”
The Here Comes Florida! campaign also participated in the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Ride for Heart in Toronto and the Mountain Equipment Co-op Run in Montreal.
Atyeo-Fick says events that promoted health and wellness were targeted, believing participants would be interested in fresh Florida-grown produce. “It was really fun,” she says. “We had a chef that created recipes with Florida produce, and when people tasted them, it blew their mind.”
The events showcased Fresh From Florida sweet corn, blueberries, watermelon, peppers, and summer squash. “We’ve had a lot of positive anecdotal feedback from staff and consumers who were really happy to taste produce from Florida, and they kept talking about freshness,” she says. This was especially gratifying, she notes, because Canadian consumers often doubt the freshness of fruits and vegetables not grown locally.
“Even though we love our local corn in Quebec and Ontario, the season doesn’t usually start until July. The sweet corn from Florida is so sweet and tastes so good, it allows us to kickstart our barbecue season early.”
So what does the future hold for Florida produce in the True North?
“Fresh From Florida has a very strong future here,” says Atyeo-Fick. “If the Florida Department of Agriculture maintains its farming and marketing support standards, Fresh From Florida is going to gain a lot of traction in Canada over the long term.”
This is an excerpt from the most recent Produce Blueprints quarterly journal. Click here to read the full article.
