DENVER—(October 8, 2009) Potato classics go convenient and digital. The United States Potato Board (USPB) recently launched a campaign to help remove the time-barrier between busy moms and potatoes. It revolves around a new collection of Quick & Healthy Potato Recipes, and the news is reaching consumers reading traditional food pages and socially surfing the web. The six most popular online searches for potato recipes—baked, mashed, fries, soups, salads and casseroles—were updated to be “Quick & Healthy” and enhanced with several flavor variations, for a total of 24 new potato recipes to please every palate. Additionally, six, one-minute educational videos were created. This package was introduced on September 18 through a multi-media on-line news release, so in addition to an article touting the quick-and-healthy benefits of meals with potatoes, there are links to recipe pages on www.potatogoodness.com, photos to download, and links to the videos on the Potato Goodness YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/PotatoGoodness. Interest surrounding this topic has been undeniably high, and as of October 1, 205 online news outlets were carrying the story, including Forbes.com, BizJournals.com, Yahoo!, and Health Square. “There is a big ‘ah-ha!’ moment when ‘Linda’ (USPB target market of moms, between the ages of 25 and 54 and with kids under 18 at home) discovers her family’s favorite vegetable can be made in 10 minutes,” explained Meredith Myers, USPB Public Relations Manager. “Positive attitudes toward potato nutrition are on the rise. ‘Linda’ knows potatoes are a budget-friendly food. This outreach is aimed at making potatoes part of dinner on Tuesday evening, which happens within a 30-minute window between little Jimmy’s football practice and his ensuing homework.” To maximize the reach of our health and convenience messages, the USPB also created and added a Facebook Fan Page, called Potatoes, Taters and Spuds (http://tinyurl.com/potatoesonfacebook), to its fleet of communications vehicles. This social platform is complete with some of the most interesting recipes USPB has created; links to chef celebrities, writers and RDs proclaiming their adoration for potatoes; photos; and the entire collection of Quick & Healthy cooking videos. The “wall” conversations are very transparent discussions about potato topics—new potato dishes, favorite potatoes, new potato products, nutrition issues, even potato news clips and videos. Calling the Industry: USE THE TOOLS! The Quick & Healthy program was designed so any industry member or organization could leverage it in their own business. The full collection of recipes and videos is at your disposal. Use the high-quality photos and recipes on your packaging, your website, point-of-sale materials and promotions. Embed the videos onto your website and share them with your key retail contacts. Every effort counts toward changing consumer attitudes. For more information on how you can integrate the Quick & Healthy campaign with your own, contact Meredith Myers at meredithm@uspotatoes.com or 303-873-2333 |
