Competition is heating up and not just on the football field. Stemilt has launched a new football-themed promotion that helps retailers pit two apple varieties against one another to find out which one comes out on top in consumer shopping baskets.
The “Apple Gridiron” promotion asks consumers the question, “What is your favorite apple variety?” and encourages voting by purchasing their preferred apple variety. According to Stemilt marketing director Roger Pepperl, it’s a fun way to engage the consumer and bring football into store displays and apple ads. The Apple Gridiron promotion can coincide with any upcoming college bowl games, the NFL playoffs, and of course, the biggest game of the year, the Superbowl.
“Superbowl is right around the corner and an important time to promote apples in the produce department. Not only does this fruit make a great addition to party platters, but apples are an important item in the produce department in February, contributing 6.8% of total produce department dollars on average over the past two years. The coming months are the ideal time for multi-variety ads on apples,” said Pepperl.
The Apple Gridiron promotion helps retailers promote 3-6 apple varieties at a time, with two of the varieties being featured as the two teams for the voting contest. Retailers can opt to run bulk apple ads or feature Stemilt’s popular Lil Snappers® kid-sized fruit in a promotion. Lil Snappers are 3-pound pouch bags of smaller sized fruit and marketed to kids and parents for school lunches and snacks.
“Lil Snappers are a brand that consumers recognize and work well for in-and-out promotions like the Apple Gridiron because of the grab-and-go style of the bag. Lil Snappers are available in the select apple varieties that kids favor,” said Pepperl.
To support the Apple Gridiron promotion, Stemilt can provide retailers with customized postcards for the two apples in the competition, as well as social media programs that highlight that an Apple Gridiron is going on in their market area. The football-theme works well for retail display or sales contests, and the Stemilt team can assist in setting those contests up to give the Apple Gridiron promotion an added boost.
“The Apple Gridiron promotion is a great way to continue momentum on apples through the late winter months. It’s a fun way to get people excited about apples and the Superbowl, which is the most watched sports event of the year,” said Pepperl.