In the first two quarters of the 2021 fiscal year, the American Pecan Council saw the strongest campaign performance in brand history! Consumer reach was at 447 million, exceeding the original goal set. During the six-month period, snack and holiday recipes reached over 500,000 views, which is an indicator for purchase intent.

First Quarter Campaign Activations & Results

The “Super Safe Pecan Debate” was a hardworking campaign garnering the best yet media results, going viral. This campaign helped American Pecans rank #1 on Share of Voice amongst other leading nut commodities during the first quarter. The “debate” around pecan pronunciation drove record-breaking online engagement. The buzz of the Debate continued into the rest of the quarter as we inspired consumers with “undebatably delicious” holiday snacks and seasonal recipes on the American Pecan site.

Second Quarter Campaign Activations & Results

During the second quarter, American Pecans partnered with actress Angela Kinsey of “The Office”, who still enjoys fresh pecans from her grandparents’ trees in north Texas, to help people clean up their snacking habits with nutrition education and easy snack inspiration. Kinsey highlighted the snack reset movement to encourage consumers to clean up their snacks in Lifestyle magazine. On top of that, she took to social media and polled fans on how they eat pecans, garnering close to 10,000 votes. American Pecans also had a sweepstakes for consumers where more than 3,300 consumers submitted photos showing off messy, snack-riddled desks for a chance to win Pecans and workplace swag. Social media advertisements showcased nutritious pecan snacks and drove visitors to featured recipes on the site and the “Clean Up Your Snacks” landing page, totaling over 167,000 clicks, 65% more than estimated.​ One out of four visitors entered the sweepstakes to win a Pecans prize pack. Our website visitors were hungry for snacking ideas, consuming nearly 120,000 pageviews of snack recipes, exceeding our goal of 100,000 pageviews.​

Omni-Channel Campaigns

We use the omni-channel campaigns to access multiple platforms to message via Power of Scale and Frequency. Hyperfocusing on key markets for our industry in which we have engaged the core audience segment of Gen X Mothers with frequent messaging. There have been 16 major cities airing over 23,000 commercials to date through television, broadcast radio, podcasts, targeted social videos and targeted geofencing. This campaign alone has delivered almost 350 million consumer reaches.

Strong Results from Influencer-Led Marketing

Aspire IQ continues to allow us to reach our target audience efficiently and effectively by contracting directly with social media influencers who produce and share quality content showcasing pecans. From lifestyle and mommy bloggers to Olympians, RNs, chefs and Bachelor stars, we’ve worked with 26 creators in FY21 who have produced 133 posts for us.

1,718,000 people have seen that content and our engagement rate is 12.3%, which is well above the average. By calculating a metric called the Total Media Value (TMV), we’re able to see how much it would cost to generate the same amount of impressions, likes and comments with paid advertising. In our case, the TMV would equate to a spend of $95,600, showing us our Return on Investment is 301%! Last, but not least, our own @AmericanPecan Instagram account has grown over 13% with 1,400 new followers keeping up with pecans. Follow along at @AmericanPecan and look under our tagged content to see and share the vast array of sponsored content our army of influencers is producing for the industry.

Reaching Nutritionists and Dietitians

Another very important and influential segment of our target audience is the health professional community. These highly motivated individuals are receptive to hearing about the health benefits, heritage and versatility of pecans. Though activations have moved to the virtual stage, our education efforts have successfully put pecans top of mind to enjoy and recommend, and our engagement with this audience remains strong and consistent. Read on to learn about some of our recent touchpoints with nutritionists and dietitians.

RDBA – Nutritious Pecans Meet Today’s Consumer Needs

This past April, American Pecans partnered with the leading membership organization of grocery store dietitians, the Retail Dietitians Business Alliance (RDBA). With RDBA, American Pecans hosted an interactive educational webinar on Snacking Solutions for Consumers: Three Trends Driving Purchasing Decisions in 2021. The webinar featured two registered dietitians, Allison Webster, Ph.D., RD, Director of Research and Nutrition Communications at the International Food Information Council Foundation, and Rabiya Bower, RD, LDN, Program Coordinator for the MS/RDN Program at Thomas Jefferson University and former retail dietitian. During the webinar, the speakers shared insights into three emerging consumer trends (convenience, nutrition and flavor), highlighted the ways in which pecans directly meet these consumer needs and discussed how health professionals can apply these trends in their everyday practice to inspire positive habits. This engaging webinar reached over 6K health professionals, with 11 major grocery retailers represented among the attendees.

In tandem with this event, the American Pecan Council collaborated with registered dietitian and culinary expert Kristy Del Coro to develop two brand-new culinary resources supporting these evolving consumer trends, which are now available on the Health Professionals Resources page of our website (americanpecan.com/for-health-professionals/resources/). Though designed with health professionals in mind, these handouts are available for industry use as well. They offer a variety of pecan inspiration, whether it be innovative pecan pairing ideas or simple ways to incorporate this delicious nut into everyday meals.

Pecan Powerhouses Network

On May 5, we hosted the second event of the Pecan Powerhouses Network 2021 Quarterly Webinar series, during which attendees heard from second-generation organic pecan farmer Laura Harper. Laura shared about her fascinating journey in the pecan industry, helped the health professionals understand what a true “day in the life” looks like for a farmer and gave them a unique glimpse into how pecans move from the trees to their tables. A big thank you to Laura for representing the industry so excellently! In our final two 2021 webinars, we’ll feature other special guests, including a culinary expert and registered dietitian. Stay tuned!

Diversified Marketing Plan Raises Pecans to the Top

Through all the diversified marketing campaigns and activations direct to consumers and health professionals, consumption rose to 8.5% since the start of the Federal Marketing Order efforts. During FY19/20, consumption was up to 36.5%. All the marketing activities described above have garnered over 770 million reaches to consumers in the first two quarters of FY20/21 alone. What does all of this mean and how does it impact industry members? By reaching consumers with messaging, the marketing is putting American Pecans at the top of mind and encouraging purchase intent in a variety of different ways. The more consumers are aware and educated about the many benefits of pecans, the more apt they are to buy pecans.

The more product purchased by end users, the more product moves throughout the chain beginning from the grower. When we look at the industry data published in the Pecan Positions Reports, shipments are up 13% and inventory is down 27%. The increased shipment of pecans means there is an increase of movement through the chain of commerce. A displaced pecan is a win for all pecan industry members from the grower all the way to retail.