California Avocado Brand Advocates Inspire, Engage and Educate Diverse Consumers

The California Avocado Commission’s Brand Advocate program is designed to drive awareness of California avocados’ seasonality premium quality and availability. Through a combination of enticing photography, exciting recipes and entertaining and educational content generated by the Brand Advocates, the Commission is able to expand the visibility of California avocados with the influencers’ audiences in a credible manner.

This year, the Commission has partnered with five influencers with diverse backgrounds who reach a wide, yet likeminded consumer audience of about 2.4 million followers. Chosen for their significant influence on social channels, large blog viewership and vibrant content creation skills, these Brand Advocates include:

• Adam Merrin and Ryan Alvarez of Husbands That Cook
• Ashley Hankins of Eat Figs, Not Pigs
• Hannah Kling of Lovely Delites
• Kristina Cho of Eat Cho Food
• Remy Park of Veggiekins

The Brand Advocates began publishing content in March to promote the seasonal availability and versatility of the fruit. The Commission defined specific on-trend themes for each month — in March, the focus was on “Time Saver Meal/Take-Out at Home” meals and in April influencers concentrated on the trendy “Charcuterie Boards” theme. To keep audiences engaged, the Brand Advocates shared recipes, blog posts, photography and social media posts and tagged California avocados to increase brand visibility.

Because each Brand Advocate has a unique audience following, background and personality, the Commission was able to showcase California avocados from all different angles with unique recipes demonstrating the versatility of the fruit and its appeal to a wide swath of dietary lifestyles. To further educate their combined 2.4-plus million followers, the advances also shared California Avocado brand messaging and encouraged consumers to look for California on the label and purchase the locally grown fruit while it is in season.

Brand Advocate content in March and April garnered nearly 470,000 impressions between the influencers’ blogs and social content. Audiences trust their favored influencers, so they are more likely to mimic influencers’ consumer habits and follow their suggestions. This makes Brand Advocates an effective means of encouraging demand and building loyalty to California avocados. The Brand Advocates will continue to produce fresh California-avocado-themed content throughout June to generate excitement for the fruit and expand how and when consumers integrate the fruit into their meals and snacks during peak season.