Any holiday is ripe for leverage by premium food marketers, including Earth Day. This year marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day and the tree hugging seems to be at an all-time high (hear Mother Nature’s sigh of relief?).
Here are a few examples of premium food brands encouraging Earth Day participation:
• The Kroger Co. is inviting customers to “Design a Reusable Shopping Bag” through its annual online contest. Beginning April 12 and running through May 21, customers can go online at www.kroger.com/green to submit their designs for Kroger’s reusable grocery bags. The grand-prize winner will receive a $1,000 Kroger gift card and could see their bag design in stores.
• Kenwood Vineyards is commemorating this year’s Earth Day with an innovative bottle necker that will be featured on their “Sonoma Series” Cabernet, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel bottles, and are available in stores nationwide. Each necker includes a special “planet earth” insert of seed paper, which, when planted, will produce a mixture of wildflowers.
• Pizza Fusion, a pioneer in the natural and organic restaurant movement, launched an online video contest through the month of April, searching for the country’s most creative and earth-friendly pizza recipe. The winner will receive a trip for two to an organic and sustainable vineyard, a year’s worth of organic beverages from Honest Tea and Give Natural Spring Water, an “Eco-Design” bike from Trek Bikes as well as have their winning recipe posted online at www.Pizzafusion.com.
• Starbucks is offering free coffee to any customer that brings in their own reusable mug on Earth Day. The promotion is part of a larger effort on Starbucks’ part for all of its cups to be reusable or recyclable by 2015.
How are you leveraging Earth Day? If you aren’t, what are some ways your company could market its premium food using Earth Day messaging?
