Why is this work relevant for PR?

K-Beauty (meaning the aesthetics preferred by Korean women) has been growing in popularity and spreading to the wider world. However, recent years have seen a shift in South Korean beauty standards. Instead of just focusing on superficial appearance, Korean women are now emphasizing the balance between health and beauty. To capitalize on this emerging trend and fundamentally alter the perception of almonds, we have conducted a campaign positioning almonds as a ‘beauty snack’. Utilizing various platforms, we have delivered the message that almonds are good for skin and hair health, and are especially beneficial for women aged 20 to 39.

Background

South Korea is the world’s seventh-largest market for almonds. In 2017 US almond exports to South Korea accounted for 3% of total US nut export volume. As people have started consuming more nuts, the competition between different nut companies in South Korea has been fierce, with companies distinguishing their products according to respective nutrient counts and benefits. In 2017, the California Walnut Commission (one of Almond Board of California’s main competitors) started promoting walnuts as the perfect nutritional package, highlighting that they are beneficial for the brain and metabolic system. In 2018, companies selling newly emerged products such as Brazil Nuts, Cacao Nibs and Sacha Inchi gained significant popularity after launching campaigns for their new offerings. In order to differentiate almonds from the products being marketed by these traditional and emerging competitors, we needed to think outside the box to accentuate the uniqueness of almonds.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We focused on the natural benefits that are distinct to almonds. Of all tree nuts, almonds have the highest levels of vitamin E, which is an antioxidant that protects skin cells from the free radicals produced by the sun’s rays, pollution, cigarette smoke, and other environmental factors. Almonds are also high in dietary fiber, which helps with weight management. We have also taken advantage of a recent shift in South Korean beauty standards. Recently, Korean women have started to consider staying healthy to be just as important in sustaining their ‘beauty’ as maintaining their outward appearance. As a result, thinking on how one establishes a foundation for beauty has changed, leading to an increased number of people seeking healthy diets as a path towards not just health, but beauty. We based our strategy on these insights, building integrated marketing campaigns that accentuated the beauty and weight management-related benefits of almonds.

Describe the strategy (30% of vote)

Our target audience is women aged between 20 and 39, who are trend sensitive and open-minded. South Korean women in their 20s and 30s are not only interested in beauty and weight management, but also record high rates of social media use. They primarily use social media to get information and communicate with one another. With this in mind, we carried out diverse integrated marketing campaigns, in both the online and offline spheres, to establish almonds as the ideal ‘beauty snack’. Our campaign was broken down into three distinct stages, to be implemented between 2017 and 2020. In stage one we told our story, delivering the benefits of almonds to our target audience. Then, in stage two we gave that audience a voice to go into the world and expand the story. Finally, in the third stage, we will engage the combined audience deeply by sharing the expanded story.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

In August 2018, we launched ‘Almonds, Your Beauty Secret’ as part of the second stage of the campaign. We launched the campaign across a variety of platforms in order to maximize impact. In December, we held an event called ‘Almond Beauty Studio’, in which we invited over 2,000 members of our target audience to experience the beauty benefits of almonds. During the event, five attendants were chosen to have their pictures taken by a professional photographer and published alongside our key message in Marie Claire magazine. In April 2019, we ran a digital advocate program in which we collaborated with YouTube influencers to produce a series of nine videos outlining the health and beauty-related benefits of almonds. Furthermore, in June of the same year we sponsored a beauty-related TV program to further convey how almonds help people establish a foundation for sustainable beauty.

List the results (30% of vote) – must include at least two of the following tiers:

From the beginning of the campaign until now (2017 to 2019), our media outreach has generated approximately 105 million impressions. These impressions resulted from the publishing of 773 news articles, as well as other integrated marketing activities and the release of featured articles and press releases pertaining to the Almond Board of California. Our messages about the benefits of almonds were successfully conveyed across various media outlets, garnering an average Media Quality score of 13.45 points out of a possible 15. As a result of the digital advocate program we ran with the YouTube influencers, we successfully promoted almonds as the ideal beauty snack and drew 5,548,621 impressions and 2,508,026 views. In addition, we teamed up with a number of micro-influencers to run a product placement campaign in order to create social media buzz around our campaign. This campaign resulted in the accumulation of 16,711,931 impressions, which amounted to 251% of our initial goal. Lastly, we recorded an additional 34 million impressions through the airings of the beauty-related TV program and documentary shows that we sponsored. Ultimately, California Almonds retained the #1 rank in top-of-mind awareness for nuts in 2018 and achieved its desired 2% increase in overall awareness year-on-year. In addition, almonds were recognized as the best nut for promoting beauty (and source of vitamin E, plant-based protein, and fibers) among our target audience.