The following Press Release was Issued 10/6/99:
Ocean Spray Launches
New Marketing Campaign
Integrated Communications Efforts to Support
Next Generation of Healthful Products

 

LAKEVILLE-MIDDLEBORO, Mass. (October 6, 1999) — With the third record year of cranberry harvests and a string of new products on the eve of introduction, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. will spend $75 million to $100 million on marketing communications. This investment will support the launch of the next generation of healthful products, including most recently Ocean Spray Premium 100% Juices and Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail PLUS.

"As the cranberry leader, we’re stepping up to the plate to deliver the kind of advertising that will ignite the Ocean Spray brand and fuel increased cranberry sales," said Stu Gallagher, vice president marketing.

The tagline "You know it’s good", which follows the brand’s logo in all consumer communications, capitalizes on the taste and health benefits that women and their families get from Ocean Spray products. Extensive consumer research guided the development of the theme, which unifies the entire campaign.

"I think we’ve captured the essence of the brand and its personality in a way that speaks directly to our consumer," said Barry Boehme, director of brand development at Ocean Spray. "When we tested the ads and tagline, we generated the best quantitative consumer research results I’ve seen in my 18 years at Ocean Spray."

Consumers will see the first wave of "fruit" of Ocean Spray’s cranberry advertising efforts in the first print ads for the Ocean Spray Premium 100% Juices, which are just now hitting the stands in October issues of women-oriented magazines. Highly targeted network, cable and spot advertising in 23 major DMAs will follow beginning the week of Oct. 4. Print ads will run through the publication of March books, and television commercials will air until March 13.

The print ads, which will combine a mix of single and two-page spreads, feature a lone Ocean Spray cranberry and product shots of the Ocean Spray Premium 100% line. The Ocean Spray cranberry will be a key element in the television spots as well. First, it will roll onto the screen and then will intermittently emerge to reveal key copy points. Lifestyle shots of active women and their families enjoying the product round out the visuals. Known as "Jazzy Juice," the commercials are set to upbeat jazz music. Boston-based Arnold Communications, known for its creative work for Volkswagen and McDonald’s, developed the advertising campaign.

Public relations, point-of-sale signs and a direct mail coupon campaign support the print and broadcast advertising. A re-designed Web site will launch in October. Fleishman-Hillard will execute product-specific public relations programs beginning with "The Psychology of Taste" that promotes the Premium 100% Juices.

Targeting women ages 35 and older, this program links personality traits to specific juice flavor preferences. Media visits and sampling events in six markets – Miami, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore and San Francisco – are the cornerstones of the campaign.

Since 1930, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. has been known for the distinctive taste and refreshment of cranberry. As an agricultural cooperative owned by 920 cranberry and citrus growers throughout the United States and Canada, Ocean Spray has been the best selling brand in the canned and bottled juice category. With annual sales of about $1.5 billion, Ocean Spray continues to hold its long-standing position as the nation’s leading producer of canned and bottled juice drinks.