September / 2011

Pink Flowers

"What's in a Character?"

by Anthony J. Totta, CEO of Grow My Profits LLC 

Member of FreshXperts LLC

 

Grocery Cart

 

Many in the supply chain are beginning to consider the possibility

of using Characters as a possible marketing avenue.

Some questions may arise in the process?

  • Does it bring results?
  • What do those results look like?
  • Is the value perceived by the consumer? Will they pay more?
  • Is there a return on investment?
  • Do the results bring increased consumption?

Since at least the 1930s (think Popeye), the produce industry has enlisted characters from children's entertainment to help sell more produce. In recent years, characters like Sponge Bob from the Nickelodeon cable network and Disney's Cars have made prominent appearances in the produce section. In this article, we offer guidelines to consider in such licensing possibilities.

 

Character Based Marketing of Fruits and Vegetables

Some claim that Popeye saved the U.S. spinach industry in the 1930s. While we're unsure if that claim is fact or legend, we've been wondering about whether character-based marketing of fruits and vegetables truly pays off for the grower today. What are the results of putting "spokescharacters" in the produce section? What value do consumers (both kids and parents) put on the character appearances? And most importantly for us and our clients: is there a return on the (often sizable) investment made to add SpongeBob, Shrek or Lightning McQueen to a product?

 

Advertising and merchandising questions like this, as we all know, may be difficult to quantify. So we'll start out with what is known, and then make conclusions based on those data and our experience. But get ready for a ride-this is a topic that will take us from Yale all the way to Thailand.

 

Cartoons in the Ivy League

The definitive word on cartoon characters appearing on packaging comes from a Yale University study published in the journal Pediatrics last year. The researchers found that "branding food packages with licensed characters substantially influences young children's taste preferences and snack selection and does so most strongly for energy-dense, nutrient poor foods."[i]

 

One might say that an Ivy League study was not required to make this claim. But the research does reveal something about kids' tastes and preferences. Kids were asked to respond to how graham crackers, gummy snacks and baby carrots tasted with and without the appearance of cartoon characters on the packaging. The researchers found that kids thought the grahams and gummies tasted better with the cartoon characters. The carrots? You guessed it. Kids didn't think the carrots tasted any better with the cartoon characters.

 

Child EatingApparently in a kid's eyes, a crunchy, sweet baby carrot is still a carrot with or without SpongeBob or Elmo.

 

Although the purpose of this study was not to reveal willingness to purchase or pay, we think it does raise a possible implication for branding. A cartoon character on carrots was attractive to kids simply because of the cartoon character, not because it created additional value for the carrots.

 

In other words, at least in this case of carrots, the value of the character was not transferred to kids placing greater utility ("like") on the product. A proprietary study done by the Sesame Street workshop, reported in the research literature, reinforces this claim.[ii] When kids had a choice between broccoli and a chocolate bar, they chose the chocolate bar most of the time. But when a sticker of Elmo was put on the broccoli, they chose the broccoli half the time.

 

Characters have staying power with kids for the initial choice. But it appears that the kids/consumer were not associating the character "brand" with the fresh produce.

 

In other words, for the kids, Elmo was still Elmo and broccoli was still broccoli.

 

Sponge Bob in West Fargo

From Yale, we go north to the only published study we found documenting whether or not cartoon characters helped kids eat more vegetables.[iii] In what we think was a well-designed study by North Dakota State health and nutrition scientists, it was determined that kids did not eat significantly more green beans in their lunches even when a cartoon character was associated with the green bean packaging and product.

 

What the scientists did report we find revealing. According to the researchers, kids considered fruit and vegetable taste, looks, smell and novelty/newness of the produce more important than the presence of the characters on the packaging! The authors also concluded that:

  • Cartoon characters do not play a significant role in the overall consumption of fruits and vegetables
  • Taste is listed as the most important factor while purchasing fruits and vegetables when children accompany their parents/guardians to grocery stores
  • Consumption of fruits and vegetables with the picture of a cartoon character was higher among children who always/usually accompany the shopper to the grocery store (we think this rather intuitive)
  • The percentage of boys who preferred green beans increased with the presence of the cartoon character (as our boys already prefer green beans, we're unsure of these implications)

Since the research report included a picture of green beans with SpongeBob, we are assuming that this was the character used.

 

Shopper

 

Ho, Ho, Ho...SpongeBob and Disney?

That brings us to SpongeBob. He, along with Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer, migrated to the produce section in 2005. Nickelodeon characters have appeared on spinach, carrots, oranges, cherries, apples, pears, peaches, plums, raisins and grapes. They have also been featured on Green Giant processed vegetables-an interesting case of one character making room for another.

 

This migration came as Nickelodeon responded to consumer advocate group complaints that their characters were showing up on too many unhealthy food choices. In fact, the network pledged in 2005 to only have their characters on "better-for-you" foods by 2009.[iv]

 

Disney is well-known in the produce industry for its campaigns to put movie characters (think Pirates of the Caribbean, Cars, Over the Hedge, Ice Age 2, Cars 2...) into the produce section. Chelan Fresh Marketing has a current campaign for Cars 2 on fresh apple and cherry packaging. Our understanding is that the licensing fees for such campaigns can approach the six figures, in addition to commissions taken on product quantity sold[M1] .

 

While we could all sit down and do the math, we believe it seems intuitive that the grower-shipper is going to have to realize a large increase in volume to recapture large licensing fees. This may be especially true since there is little evidence that "spokescharacters" result in an increased "like" or consumption of produce among kids.

 

So How Can Characters Help?

Isn't it funny how theory and research often confirm what works (or already has worked) in practice? This appears to be the case with licensed characters. The "definitive" study of their effectiveness in advertising has the impressive title of "The Role of Spokescharacters as Advertisement and Package Cues in Integrated Marketing Communications."[v] The authors studied the Energizer Bunny, Chester Cheetah and the Snuggle Bear (we are not making this up). They found many technical and interesting observations, but we think that one conclusion is highly relevant for making decisions about licensing characters in the produce industry. That is this: for long-term branding, the spokescharacter has to become identified in the customer's mind with the actual product. Otherwise, you're just putting a cute face on an existing package-which is perhaps why there was room for both SpongeBob and the Green Giant on canned and frozen vegetables.

 

We think the implications clear for fresh produce. Characters, especially those with higher licensing fees, should only be employed in the process of building the product brand. And our product is not cartoons-they are the property of their respective media companies. Our product is fresh produce.

 

This is why Bobby Banana, in our mind, is a good example of how character-based marketing is employed in our industry. In Bobby's case, he and his gang (Courtney Cauliflower, Gavin Grape, Pinellopy Pineapple) have been formulated by Dole to associate directly in a child's mind with fruits and vegetables-and consequently, with the Dole brand. While we doubt Bobby will overtake SpongeBob in popularity any time soon, he is an attempt to build a longer-lasting produce brand. When you think of Bobby Banana, aka BamNana, you think of bananas. The ones with a Dole label.

 

And that, over time, can translate to more sales and added value for a brand.

 

 Kitchen Produce

 

Back to Popeye

This brings us back to Popeye, the longest lasting cartoon character in the produce section. While we would rather he be first associated with fresh spinach, Popeye has still become synonymous with spinach. His has been long-term, lasting success in building a brand. That's because there was something inherently "spinach" about Popeye before he showed up in produce. Possibilities for such long-term branding are what we think important in considering licensing fees for putting characters on produce. Licensing characters unrelated to the product can be useful to create short-term buzz, but the jury is still out on their effects on long-term profitability.

 

And although Popeye migrated from fresh to canned spinach, he apparently still carries some weight with kids. Research published in the journal Nutrition and Dietetics last year indicated that primary school students in Thailand ate more vegetables after watching Popeye cartoons.[vi]

 

That old sailor still has some strong market power. Global power. Because he was already made of spinach before he showed up on the package.



[i] Roberto, Christina et al. "Influence of Licensed Characters on Children's Taste and Snack Preferences." Pediatrics, Volume 126, No. 1, 2010. www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2009-3433

[ii] Roberto et al.

[iii] Bezbaruah, Nandita and Blunt, Ardith. "Impact of Using Cartoon Characters to Market Fruits and Vegetables to Children." North Dakota State University College of Human Development and Education. Poster accessed at http://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/hde/research/N.BezbaruahPoster.pdf

[iv] Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents. Federal Trade Commission Report, July 2008, at 78.

[v] Garretson, Judith A. and Burton, Scot. "The Role of Spokescharacters as Advertisement and Package Cues in Integrated Marketing Communications." Journal of Marketing. Vol. 69 (October 2005), 118-132.

[vi] Press Release. http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/PressRelease/pressReleaseId-79817.html




Join Our Mailing List
Pink Flowers

Retail, foodservice, wholesale...no matter what sector of fresh produce you're in, we have the experience and expertise to help:

 
1. Identify and eliminate areas of waste

2.  Put strong business practices into effect

3.  Develop long-range marketing plans

 
4.  Optimize existing operations

5.  Implement short and long term goals
 

For a fresh take on every aspect of your produce business, click on the link below to meet the FreshXperts and then contact FreshXperts today!

  The Experts:
 
Anthony Totta - Business Development and Marketing Expert, Lee's Summit, MO

Jelger de Vriend -
Retail Expert,
The Netherlands

John Shelford - Organizational Governance and Berry Expert,
Naples, FL  

Mike Nicometo -
Cool Chain Expert,
Iron Mountain, MI

Ron Pelger -
Retail Merchandising Expert, Reno, NV
 

Tim Vaux -
New Venture and Product Launch Expert,
Fresno, CA

Mike Chirveno -
Social Media Expert,
Kansas City, MO

 
FreshXperts
 
Phone:
816. 463.4518
Email:
[email protected]
 

Find us on Facebook
 
 Follow us on Twitter