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To introduce Minute Maid Premium Fruit Punch with calcium, Ogilvy PR Worldwide uncovered significant research findings tailored toward the target audience, U.S. Latinos. These findings became the “hook” for what would become a highly successful multicultural launch campaign that extended beyond the target audience to important influencers of the Hispanic community.
OPportunity
In February 2000, The Minute Maid Company engaged Ogilvy PR Worldwide to introduce its new Minute Maid Premium Fruit Punch with calcium and raise awareness of the importance of calcium-fortified juice drinks among the Latino population.
In the United States, an estimated 50 percent of Hispanic Americans have lactose intolerance (the inability to digest dairy products), as compared to 20 percent of Caucasian Americans. Through research and collaboration with one of the country’s top lactose intolerance researchers, Ogilvy PR uncovered a nutrition link between prevalence of lactose intolerance and low bone density levels in the Latino community. These research findings served as the news platform for a major media relations campaign, which reached Hispanic and Caucasian audiences across the country. The news platform also enabled Ogilvy PR to reach the Latino community through an educational community event in partnership with The National Council of La Raza (NCLR). PR Program Objectives Audience U.S. Latino population: Research Ogilvy PR conducted in-depth preliminary research with nutrition experts, as well as a review of nutrition and medical journals, to confirm the link between lactose intolerance and low-calcium intake within the Latino community. Ogilvy PR awarded an education grant on behalf of The Minute Maid Company to Dennis Savaiano, Ph.D., Dean of Food and Nutrition at Purdue University, to author a scientific literature review paper on lactose intolerance. The paper concluded that lactose intolerance may be linked to low calcium intake, which may put Americans at a greater risk for osteoporosis. In addition, lactose intolerance was found to disproportionately impact the Latino community. Strategy Execution/Tactics Latino Community Event: The media campaign positioned The Minute Maid Company as a leader in nutrition and wellness and targeted the Hispanic community through a community/media event in Los Angeles. The luncheon featured Latino nutrition expert, Margarita Nagy, M.S., R.D.; Marco Davis, Director of the Youth Leaders Program for NCLR; and Garry Sawka, Group Brand Manager, The Minute Maid Company. Inviting leaders in the Latino community to join The Minute Maid Company for an informative luncheon initiated meaningful relationships and helped The Minute Maid Company to develop credibility in the Hispanic community. In addition, The Minute Maid Company donated $15,000 to the NCLR’s Youth Leaders Program (YLP) to further solidify their commitment to the Hispanic community. New York Media Tour: Ogilvy PR conducted a one-day media tour with Dr. Dennis Savaiano in New York City who discussed his findings about lactose intolerance and offered Minute Maid Fruit Punch with calcium as a non-dairy calcium source to lactose intolerant individuals. Media interviews included: The Wall Street Journal, Fox News Channel, Reuters Health wire service, KIEV Radio (LA), Fitness magazine, KPCC Radio (LA), ivillage.com and Essence magazine. B Roll: Ogilvy PR produced and distributed, in English and Spanish, a branded b-roll package via satellite to hundreds of news stations across the country. The package included sound bites from Dr. Dennis Savaiano, Margarita Nagy, M.S., R.D., and Carolyn Moore, Ph.D., R.D., Manager of Nutrition, The Minute Maid Company; grocery store footage of Minute Maid Fruit Punch with calcium; and families enjoying Minute Maid’s fruit punch at home. Press Mailing: Ogilvy PR hand-delivered press kits, in English and Spanish, to reporters during the New York City media tour and mailed kits to nutrition and health editors at long-lead consumer magazines and food editors at the top 100 daily newspapers. In addition, the press release was distributed via PR Newswire. Obstacles Overcome With less than one week until the launch of Minute Maid Fruit Punch with calcium, the client cancelled the event due to a realignment and significant staff layoff announcement from The Coca-Cola Company, The Minute Maid Company’s parent company. Interviews were postponed, the event was canceled and Latino community leaders were personally called to explain the cancellation of the event. Ogilvy PR rescheduled the event to take place a month later on February 16, 2000. Due to scheduling conflicts the original celebrity spokesperson, Giselle Blondet, mother and celebrity host of Despierta America, a highly rated morning entertainment program on Univision, was unable to attend the luncheon event, which impacted attendance. Evaluation/Measurement of Success Latino Community Event. Although we experienced severe rainstorms in Los Angeles the day of the event, we secured attendance of three top-tier targeted Latino media outlets, including: KVEA-TV (Telemundo), La Opinion (largest Spanish-language daily newspaper in LA) and Metro Network News (syndicated radio). In addition, 24 community leaders attended the luncheon. Media Outreach Efforts. The b-roll results included branded placements in markets such as KVEA-TV (Los Angeles Telemundo), WFXT-TV (Boston), WFXT-TV (Philadelphia), WDAF-TV (Kansas City) and WPBF-TV (West Palm Beach). In addition, we secured branded print placements in Latino magazine and La Opinion. Our media efforts, including print and broadcast placements, reached nearly 1.5 million consumers.
Despite significant obstacles, the campaign was considered an important success for The Minute Maid Company due not only to the branded media coverage but, most important, the credibility and brand leadership we initiated within the Latino community.
