• by Larissa Faw , March 10, 2016

Vegetable grower Andy Boy is teaming with ad agency Jugular to introduce an ad campaign around the California-based grower's flagship vegetable, Broccoli Rabe. 

The concept is designed to position the cruciferous vegetable "as a way to fuel an active lifestyle" by demonstrating "the versatility, health and nutrition benefits of this powerful superfood that people might not be aware of yet," says Claudia Pizarro-Villalobos, marketing and culinary manager at D’Arrigo Bros. Co., which markets the Andy Boy line of products.

The campaign centers on a video ad featuring chef Candice Kumai exercising,  and then shows her  in the kitchen chopping broccoli rabe and enjoying a broccoli rabe smoothie. "The thinking behind our video was to create an inspirational ad that the audience could connect to from a style, tone and tempo standpoint,' says Erin Lackey, creative director at Jugular.  "It highlights the vegetable as a superfood that pushes you to peak performance.” See the spot here. 

The campaign targets millennials, especially those who are interested in living a heathy lifestyle and runs on the Andy Boy Broccoli Rabe channels, and in pre-roll ads on Hulu and YouTube. Kumai and several social media influencers are also publishing special broccoli rabe recipes at the AndyBoy.com website. 

Still, it is difficult to convey the benefits of an overlooked food, says Lackey. "One major challenge is getting our audience to recognize broccoli rabe as a viable veggie against a large pool of well-known competitors such as kale. Broccoli rabe is more versatile than most vegetables, and one of our goals with the influencer program is to get recipe ideas in consumer’s hands. There's plenty more to broccoli rabe than a sautéed side dish."