By Greg Hazley
A marketing push touting California-grown produce in China is on the hunt for nine months of PR support in the People’s Republic.
The Buy California Marketing Agreement, a 10-year-old initiative run by the Golden State’s agriculture industry, is developing a “California Grown” campaign to kickoff in China this year. It issued an RFP March 7 with a short deadline of March 18 for a PR agency to support that effort with media relations and in-store promotions in China.
Budget is capped at $175K running April through December.
Fleishman-Hillard handles U.S. PR for the BCMA.
Bryant Christie, a Sacramento-based company that helps food and agriculture clients tap foreign markets, is overseeing the campaign and handling the RFP process for a PR firm.
While China’s markets began opening in 2001, when it joined the World Trade Organization, import tariffs have declined steadily over the past five years, boosting U.S. exports. Fresh fruit, a key California export, is a particularly growing, but pricey niche there.
Cherries, olives, kiwifruit, plums, wine and almonds are products covered in the marketing campaign.
The overall goal of the effort is to build positive awareness and consumer conceptions of Golden State goods in the media and at retail.
“BCMA understands that China is a price sensitive market and high-value products like California fresh fruit are often more expensive than locally grown produce,” reads the RFP. “Therefore, careful program timing and activity design will be critical to the program’s success.”
Alicia Manseau (aliciam [at] bryantchristie.com) at Bryant Christie is handling the search.
Download the RFP (PDF).
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