• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 24, 2014

As a core element in its new marketing campaign, "Share the Love of Leaves," Pure Leaf Iced Tea is partnering with Food & Wine on the magazine's "Grow for Good" platform.

Launched in 2007, Grow for Good is a national campaign to raise public awareness and support for charitable initiatives aimed at increasing consumer access to locally and sustainably grown foods. Since its start, the campaign has been supporting Wholesome Wave, a nonprofit that helps local farmers and communities offer programs that make healthy, locally grown food accessible and affordable. 

“We see this partnership as an excellent way to  reinforce Pure Leaf's passion for 'realness,' both in terms of the product itself -- real, brewed tea made from premium tea leaves -- and in terms of our relationships with consumers, while helping to provide underserved communities with access to wholesome, sustainable foods,” says Eric Whitehouse, director of The Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership, the joint venture formed by PepsiCo and Unilever to market ready-to-drink tea brands Pure Leaf, Lipton Iced Tea and Brisk Iced Tea.

Through July, Pure Leaf will be the exclusive sponsor of the Grow for Good Web site, which has recently been redesigned and refreshed. Several ads for Pure Leaf are integrated in the site's home page, including a banner at the top. The ads click through to Pure Leaf's Facebook page.  

The site includes an area explaining Wholesome Wave's mission and a click-through to a donations page. It also features Q&As with chefs Hugh Acheson and Wholesome Wave founder Michel Nischan, seasonal recipes from both chefs and Food & Wine, and recipes for beverages and cocktails made with Pure Leaf Iced Tea varieties. 

In addition, there's a call-out for Pure Leaf Farm-Fresh Market Stands, to be held in markets around the country this summer. Well-known chefs will be on hand to share their favorite quick, no-cooking dishes using fresh ingredients during the events, which will help raise awareness and support for Wholesome Wave's programs.

Pure Leaf will also participate in Food & Wine's marquee events, including the Austin Food & Wine Festival and the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. Ticket sales for the Aspen Classic event help raise funds for Grow for Good, and this year's event will feature a 5K race, sponsored by Pure Leaf, that's also a fundraiser for the cause.

Plans for other Pure Leaf-supported initiatives to raise funds for Wholesome Wave are also in the works.

Some, but not all, of the ads for Pure Leaf's 2014 "Share the Love of Leaves" campaign will feature the brand's support of Wholesome Wave through the Good to Grow partnership. These ads will include messaging driving consumers to go online to learn more about how to support the nonprofit. 

The campaign -- which highlights Pure Leaf's "real brewed tea" core brand message -- includes traditional and digital advertising and sponsored-content elements, as well as the brand's own sampling events.

Branded content pieces (labeled advertising) that highlight Pure Leaf's support of Good to Grow and Wholesome Wave will appear in issues of Food & Wine, starting with the April issue.

The brand will also run "Share the Love of Leaves" ads not related to Wholesome Wave in other food and entertainment publications, including HGTV Magazine and Food Network Magazine, and run radio and out-of-home advertising in targeted markets, Whitehouse tells Marketing Daily.

In addition to being integrated on the Good to Grow site, the campaign's digital ads will appear on Food & Wine's site and other food and lifestyle sites. The digital ads are designed to be smartphone- and tablet-compatible, and there will be mobile initiatives, including some using location-based social media, reports Whitehouse.

Pure Leaf will also employ its Facebook and other social media assets (Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest pages) for the campaign.

In addition, the brand will hold sampling events at farmers markets and retail locations in regions around the country between April and October.