IRVINE, CA (March 18, 2015) – The Hass Avocado Board conducted an Advertising and Promotions Study to determine which types of retail promotional offers and advertisements performed the best to help drive Hass Avocado retail sales volume. The in-depth study provides an overview of the retail advertising landscape for avocados and identifies trends and performance drivers around this key merchandising tactic. Overall, the avocado industry enjoyed robust sales with traditional grocery retailers ringing up $1.3 billion in avocado sales during a recent 52-week sales period, with Hass Avocados holding a 94% share of the category.“Supermarket flyers, ads and associated store promotions influence the purchase of avocados by generating excitement, communicating value and keeping the category top-of-mind with shoppers,” explains Emiliano Escobedo, executive director of the Hass Avocado Board. “The purpose of this study was to understand how differences in ad size, ad placement, offer type and other advertising conditions impacted volume lift and promotional efficiency.”
Key findings from the report include:
- Large, illustrated ads create excitement
There was a strong correlation between ad size, volume lift and efficiency. Larger, illustrated ads produced significantly better lifts and efficiencies than non-illustrated line listings. Illustrated ads that were larger than other ads on the page produced the largest average lift of 141%. - Avocado ads on the gatefold, front page and back page are most impactful
The front page and back page are common locations for successful produce ads, but gatefold placement generated the largest lifts and best efficiency, possibly due to its eye-catching position. Gatefolds generated 189% average volume lift, followed by the front page at 129% and back page at 113%. Gatefold, front page and back page ads delivered above average efficiencies, drawing more new or infrequent purchases to the category. Gatefolds produced an efficiency of 66%; front page 57% and back page 56%. - Bagged avocado ads generate strong volume lifts
The number of bagged and multiple avocado offers increased over prior year as shoppers become more interested in purchasing avocados in larger quantities. Bagged avocado ads generated above average volume lift of 121% and bagged ads also delivered above average efficiencies. - Ads that specify avocado size produce above average results
Avocado size was specified in 62% of avocado ads. Ads specifying the avocado size produced an average volume lift of 103% compared to 96% for ads that did not specify the size of the avocado. Ads calling out the size of the avocado were also found to be slightly more efficient than ads that did not mention the size. - Promotions on organic avocados are well-received by shoppers
Shoppers respond well to promotions on organic avocados, perhaps because they occur less frequently and often feature comparatively large discounts. While only 15% of all avocado ads are for organic avocados, the number of organic ads increased +37.5% over the prior year. Volume lift from organic ads was found to be 48% higher than ads for conventional avocados.
“The retailers used for this study included a broad mix of national and regional supermarket chains utilizing a variety of category advertising tactics,” explains Escobedo. “It is an interesting study that provides insight for retailers when planning their advertising and promotional strategies.”
To learn more about the trends and performance drivers around retail advertising and promotions, visit hassavocadoboard.com/research-insights/ to read the full report.
About The Hass Avocado Board
The Hass Avocado Board (HAB) was established in 2002 to promote the consumption of Hass avocados in the United States. A 12-member board representing domestic producers and importers of Hass avocados directs HAB’s promotion, research and information programs under supervision of the United States Department of Agriculture. Hass avocados are grown in California and imported into the U.S. from Mexico, Chile, Peru, Dominican Republic and New Zealand.
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