Wonderful Pistachios®: Shifting Consumer Perception<\/strong><\/p>\r\n While perception of snack nuts has gradually shifted over the years towards an improved “good for you” view, in 2010 many consumers still viewed pistachios as a guilty snack choice. Additionally, within the snack nut category, awareness of California pistachios, a $520-million industry, remained low. As California’s leading producer of pistachios, Paramount Farms (a division of The Wonderful Company™) needed to change consumer perception for the category while boosting awareness for its flagship brand, Wonderful Pistachios. <\/strong><\/p>\r\n Communication Goals<\/strong> · Position California pistachios as a wise snack choice and become part of the overall healthy nut story · Drive consumer preference by differentiating California pistachios from other snack nuts · Increase awareness for Wonderful Pistachios and link the brand to a positive health message · Leverage health experts and influencers to deliver the positive health message credibly<\/p>\r\n Execution<\/strong> · A virtual communications platform, The Pistachio Health Institute<\/em>, was launched to deliver the health message credibly to influencers, consumers and media. Communication tools included a website housing a research library, collateral materials and dietitian authored blog; social media channels, and quarterly e-newsletter · A partnership with a behavioral eating expert led to a “mindful snacking” study, showing that those who snacked on pistachios consumed less but with high levels of satiety. The study was published in the scientific journal Appetite<\/em> in 2011 · Messages supporting the “mindful eating” benefits of pistachios, and the trademarked term “Skinny Nut™,” were incorporated into press materials, owned social media platforms, and outreach to media and influencers · Health influencer outreach focused on the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetic’s annual Food & Nutrition Conference, attended by more than 12,000 dietitians <\/strong><\/p>\r\n Evaluation <\/strong> · In its first year of publication, more than 75 media placements were generated including mentions on NBC’s The Biggest Loser,<\/em> The Today Show, Yahoo!, Fox-TV, Oprah, Cosmopolitan, Shape, Weight Watchers Magazine, Hungry Girl, Spry magazine, Parade, Self, Glamour,<\/em> Parenting, Vogue, Prevention<\/em>, Health<\/em>, and WebMD, among others · The study continues to receive coverage five years post publication, generating mentions on Dr. Oz, The Food Network, The Doctors, Good Housekeeping, Greatist, Los Angeles Times, US Magazine, <\/em>and National Public Radio. Several outlets, including Men’s Health, Psychology Today<\/em> and Yahoo!, have run multiple mentions · 100% of media placements contained 1+ positive health messages, linking in-shell pistachios to weight management, a key differentiator in the snack nut category · Monthly traffic to the Pistachio Health Institute website peaked at 32,000 visitors (by comparison, a category competitor’s site averaged 11,000); and fan growth to social media platforms increased by 40 percent. Subscribers to the Pistachio Health institute ezine increased by 120 percent. · Ipsos market research found that in 2012, 76 percent of consumers believed that pistachios are healthy, an increase of 24 percent from 2008<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>"}}