food

Del Monte Shows Life With New Campaign

Del-Monte-BWith consumers wanting (or saying they want) more fruits and vegetables in their diets, Del Monte Foods is launching a new advertising campaign emphasizing that their canned vegetables are just as nutritious (and easier) as fresh produce. 

“Del Monte as a brand has been around for 100 plus years,” Brian Ng, director of marketing/consumer products for Del Monte, tells Marketing Daily. “What’s interesting is we have a lot of strong attributes in our product lines that consumers seem to have forgotten over time.”

Among those attributes: nearly 90% of the fruits and vegetables Del Monte uses are produced in the United States; that they’re canned on the same day as they’re picked, and that they hold the same nutritional value as fresh produce, Ng says.

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“The whole industry of canning started with grandmas canning [fruits and vegetables],” Ng says. “It’s a really simple process. You put them in a can with some water, and you heat them. The other thing we want to remind consumers is that at the end of the day, our products are as nutritious as fresh vegetables when you cook them.”

The ads, which use the tagline “Bursting With Life,” emphasize the freshness of the ingredients with images of green beans dropping directly into a Del Monte can from the plant. A video ad asks the question, “What’s in a can of Del Monte green beans?” before showing the can being opened, poured into a pot and heated to a jaunty, folksy soundtrack. The campaign was created by Juniper Park in Toronto, a division of BBDO Canada.

In addition to the print and television campaign, Del Monte is running a Facebook competition, “Add Some Garden,” which will ask consumers to share their tips about how they make meals more nutritious by adding Del Monte vegetables. Spending was not disclosed, although the company said the effort is its largest in the past decade.

The effort is intended to reach consumers right around the “key consumption” time of Thanksgiving (thus the heavy focus on green beans), Ng says. “It’s the perfect time from a consumption perspective,” Ng says. “We think [consumers] are open to the communication and it would be helpful for them during this time of year.”

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