An apron-wearing, fork-wielding salad spokesperson and a 2,000-percent increase in Facebook followers are forever changing the face of the packaged salad category.
Months after launching its reinvented line of Dole Salads, Dole Fresh Vegetables is stepping up its interactive marketing programs in the face of growing demand by bagged salad customers for salad-based conversations, contests, social marketing and other direct-to-consumer initiatives. The intensified strategy calls for an expanded role for the company's Dole Salad Guide spokesperson, and increased use of Facebook and other programs designed to connect directly with salad users looking to broaden their salad horizons.
The new line is being introduced via a comprehensive multimedia campaign featuring a new Dole Salad Guide spokesperson, an all-knowing expert on salad tastes, textures and pairing possibilities. In addition to his role as the star of the Dole Salads relaunch campaign, the Dole Salad Guide spokesperson is featured on his own Facebook page dedicated to reaching retailers, salad enthusiasts and other influencers with an assortment of salad-, nutrition- and health-based messages.
The marketing campaign for Dole Salads will ultimate create more than 1.7 billion media impressions in the U.S. and Canada in the form of national TV, trade and consumer magazines, outdoor, digital and PR elements, according to Dole.
In addition to social media, the Dole Salads interactive program encompasses a dedicated Web site; consumer contest; banner and display advertising on Hulu, Food Network, Recipe Zaar, Rachel Ray, All Recipes, Fine Cooking and other outlets; search marketing on Google, Yahoo and Bing; and a series of direct-to-consumer emails.
