Category Advisor: Bananas: Chiquita

In early 2011, Chiquita launched a marketing partnership with Twentieth Century Fox as an opportunity to promote the brand in conjunction with a major 3D event (the animated film “Rio”) and drive sales of Chiquita bananas. The brand also built an interactive microsite aimed at consumer families, www.chiquita.com/rio. The microsite was promoted with an integrated media campaign covering in-store, print, radio, TV, digital and cinema advertising. At retail, there were “Rio” versions of the iconic blue sticker on Chiquita bananas and in-store POS. The promotion ran from the last week of March 2011 through the end of April 2011 to coordinate with the film’s April 15 premiere.

The goal of the campaign was to leverage brand recognition to engage consumers and influence purchase behavior. Although bananas have the highest household penetration of any item in the produce department, Chiquita believed there was room to grow the category by influencing brand preference and behavior through such brand-focused programs.

In January-March, the Chiquita trend versus year ago was behind that of other banana brands by an average of one point. In April, during the promotion, the Chiquita trend outperformed all other brands by one point, for a two-point change in trend. This change in trend was accomplished without any special price reduction or promotion, giving further credence to the impact of the advertising.