Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/43042
Apples Marketing TWEETS TOUT SweeTango The apple's promoters are targeting alpha shoppers, who shout out and tell a thousand friends. by Richard Lehnert S ince summer, it's been all over Twitter and Face- book—the news that SweeTango apples were coming in September, in triple the volume of 2010. This is undoubtedly the first apple to be promoted so intensively—almost exclusively— through social media. Next Big Thing, the grower cooperative that is the exclusive producer and marketer of this club apple, hired the Minneapolis-based agency Fast Horse, Inc., to man- age the SweeTango Web site and its presence on Face- book and Twitter. Not a cent was spent on advertising, though the agency did put out news releases, which were picked up by newspapers across the country. In July, the SweeTango Web site announced the SweeTango First Bite Giveaway, in which one winner in New Holland New & Lease NH T4050V 4WD w/Cab (NEW) Return Tractors for Orchards and Vineyards Low APR or Cash Back NH Boomer 40 4WD (NEW) NH T4040F 4WD w/Cab (NEW) NH T4040V 2WD (NEW) Dennis Courtier, a leading figure in creation of Next Big Thing, posted this picture of himself in a SweeTango orchard on the Web in August. Left: Eastern Canadian radio personality Kate Peardon's photo was on the Facebook page of Scotian Gold Cooperative in Nova Scotia. the United States and one in Canada would receive boxes of SweeTango apples as soon as harvest began. In August, a new contest, "Apple a Day the SweeTango Way," was announced online. One winner in the United States and one in Canada would receive four dozen apples in the mail over the course of about five weeks. A master plan "This was part of the master plan when we began in NH T4030V 4WD (NEW) (2) NH T 4030V 4WD (2) NH T 4040V 4WD (7) NH 1510 (1) NH 1520 4WD 4WD (1) NH T 4040F 2WD w/cab (2) NH T 4040F 4WD w/cab (2) NH TN85FA 4WD (1) Edwards DYNA-SCAT All Terrain Forklift NH T4040F 4WD (NEW) NH WorkMaster 55 2WD (NEW) SUNNYSID 509-837-2714 NEW HOLLAND, INC 16 OCTOBER 2011 GOOD FRUIT GROWER The Farmer's Friend! E 526 W. YAKIMA VALLEY HIGHWAY SUNNYSIDE, WASHINGTON NH Rustler 115 gas 4WD w/electric tilt bed (NEW) NH T4050F 4WD (NEW) Call About Lease Returns 136 hrs 330 hrs 100 – 300 hrs 270 hrs 177 hrs/212 hrs NH T4030V 2WD (NEW) 2007," said Tim Byrne, the president of Next Big Thing and also manager of apple sales for Pepin Heights Orchard in Lake City, Minnesota. "We rely on social media and word of mouth of consumers. We are appealing to the alpha shoppers who love to discover new foods and shout out and tell a thousand friends." Alpha shoppers is a term used to describe people who want the latest stuff and willingly pay full price for it. They're not coupon shoppers. The social media effort began last year, when the first apples became available in limited quantity. This year, many of the trees are in their third and fourth leaf, so the volume has tripled. Byrne wouldn't disclose what the vol- ume is, but said that about 700,000 trees have been planted at densities of 1,000 or more per acre, and the first serious planting began in 2008. There are 44 growers in New York, Michigan, Min- nesota, and Washington, and 20 in Nova Scotia, Canada. Apples are packed at six locations in New York, Nova Scotia, Michigan, Minnesota, and Washington. The apples mature in late September, and Byrne expected they'd be sold out by the end of October. They're being sold by major chains, including Walmart, and Byrne was pleased that Walmart would buy into marketing an apple over such a short season. See the full story at www.goodfruit.com and follow links to SweeTango on Twitter and Facebook. For more information, go to the Web site www.sweetango.com. • www.goodfruit.com New trade- ins daily SAVE BIG $$$$$! photo courtesy dennis courtier