Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1463529
AROUND THE WORLD New U.S. Ad Campaign Targets 'Mindful Millennials' In mid-January, the Almond Board of California kicked off a new U.S. marketing campaign aimed primarily at consumers between the ages of 30 and 45. Known as "Mindful Millennials," this demographic is defined, in part, by how they approach health, wellness and nutrition in comparison to other Millennials. "Mindful Millennials want to be healthy, but their definition of health has evolved to include a broader goal of wellness," explained Jenn Freeman, North America marketing director and head of global integrated marketing for the Almond Board. "Today, many of these consumers know almonds are nutritious, yet they don't believe almonds fit their modern definition of health." The "Your Friend in Wellness" campaign features a fun character known as "Al the Almond" – an actor dressed in an almond costume – and uses humor blended with key almond-related facts to reach the target audience and inspire them to snack on more almonds. The series of ads launched with broadcast TV (Viacom channels such as CMT, Comedy Central, Nick at Nite and others geared toward Millennials), Amazon Fire Stick connected TV, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, Twitch, Click 2 Cart and Spotify as well as a partnership with Whole 30 app/website. There are no corresponding print ads, Freeman said, because research shows most Millennials do not read magazines or newspapers. Focusing on the definition of wellness How almonds can help with wellness is the key message in all the ads. It is important to recognize that wellness and health are not interchangeable terms, said Jen Sterling, manager director and partner of Sterling-Rice Group, which worked with the ABC marketing team on the new campaign. "Health is the absence of disease; wellness is a broader sense of being. It means practicing healthy habits daily, so you don't just survive, you thrive," she said. Research targeting Millennials shows that 79% of them believe wellness is important, with 42% saying it is a priority, Sterling said during a breakout session at The Almond Conference 2021 in December. Equally as important, grocery store data suggests that only 27% of Millennials purchase almonds alone as a snack. And of those who do enjoy almonds, they spend 25% less than the average U.S. household on almonds. The ABC marketing team interprets those statistics as a major opportunity. "Older consumers favor almonds as energy to get through their day," Freeman said. "Younger consumers favor wellness. "Wherever you're going or whatever wellness looks like to you, almonds are the good-for-you snack that always tags along." 5