Marketing campaign focuses on young people
“Eating apples should be cool”
“With the Joya apple, we want to encourage teenagers to eat more fruit,” says Jean-Jacques Berton of Joya Europe. “There actually aren’t any campaigns that focus on this target audience specifically, but it’s still a logical choice for us, because young people eat less fruit than average.” Xavier Meignen Lainer of Proride, the company marketing the apple, explains: “We want to make eating an apple cool, and alternative to the energy drinks consumed a lot by young people.”
French apple
“But the properties of the apple also perfectly fit consumption on the road, something young people do a lot,” Jean-Jacques knows. “The apple is sweet, refreshing and crunchy, and has the unique quality that it can take some damage. That means the apple can easily be packed in a backpack.”
Only the top segment of the Cripps Red apples is marketed under the Joya label. The Cripps Red is a cross between the Golden Delicious and Lady Williams. “The Joya is a completely French apple,” Jean-Jacques explains. “The organization behind the Joya is formed out of 126 Joya growers and seven sales organizations are carrying the variety.”
Small, but growing
“The past two years, we’ve seen more orchards being planted, so we’re hoping for a growing acreage and volume in the coming years.” Although the volumes have increased since the introduction of the brand. In 2010-2011, the volume was 4216 tonnes, for the 2014-2015 season 5700 tonnes is being estimated.
The specific target audience for the Joya apple are teenagers between 13 and 17 years old. To appeal to these teenagers, various channels are used. Facebook first and foremost. “We had 40,000 fans within six months,” Xavier says. At the end of February the number of Facebook followers is over 64,000.
Professional sports and Joya
A number of pro athletes in outdoor sports like kitesurfing, cycling and snowboarding have associated their name with the apple, including Dutch multiple world champion kitesurfing Youri Zoon. The apple is also present at sports events like the SFR Tour and the FISE. The former is a freestyle sports event for winter sports. FISE is an event where various sports are practised, like mountain biking, rollerblading and wakeboarding. “We consciously opted for these sports,” says Jean-Jacques. “We have chosen a marketing position for the label that fits the positioning of the apple in the market.”
Double strategy
But because teenagers generally don’t do their own grocery shopping, Joya also focuses on the parents. “In supermarkets, we focus on the parents, which is why our communication in the stores isn’t based on sports or our ambassadors, but mainly on the properties of the apple. The Joya is an apple for the whole family. A French study from 2010 concludes that 95 percent of consumers are fully satisfied with the qualities of the apple.” In addition to in-store promotions and tastings, the brand also uses promotions in or on the packaging.
The Joya apple is available in various supermarkets in Europe. For now, the focus is on the European market. Figures give an idea of the growing presence of the apple on various markets. In France, the home market, the market grew by eight percent between 2011/2012 and 2013/2014. For other markets, the growth ended up in double figures. The Dutch market increased by 11 percent, the Danish by 14 percent, the Irish by 39 percent, and in Russia the market increased by 15 percent.
More information
Joya Europe
Jean-jacques Berton
jean-jacques.berton@pinkladyeurope.com
Proride
Xavier Meignen Lainer
xavier@proride-agency.com