APG Wins American Advertising Federation’s ADDY Awards

California Billboard Campaign

APG Sample Packs

Global Advertising Campaign

APG Garners Press Coverage on Pistachio Day

APG Featured in Italy’s Elle Magazine

APG Ambassadors at ISPO Munich

Jeremy Jones Snowboard Giveaway

Upcoming California Regional Grower Meetings

APG’s New Online Store

For the second consecutive year, APG has received multiple ADDY awards for creative excellence in marketing and promotion. These nationally acclaimed awards are given out annually by the American Advertising Federation.

The Central Valley competition is the fi rst of a three-tier, national competition. Concurrently, local entrants from all over the United States vie to win a coveted ADDY award-recognition for being the best of the best in their markets.

In the local competition, APG initially won six gold and two silver ADDYs, and two more silvers in the second tier of competition. This tier included entrants from District 14 (Northern California and Northern Nevada). These awards brought our two-year total to twenty-six.

The ADDYs are the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition in the USA, with creativity originality and creative strategy forming the criteria.

APG launched its California “Power of Pistachios” billboard campaign with billboards appearing across California – from San Diego to Sacramento and the Central Coast. The billboards feature APG’s athlete and grower ambassadors, and are strategically placed along highly traveled highways where they can be viewed by fi tness enthusiasts on their way to skiing, hiking and cycling getaways, as well as along the agricultural areas of the San Joaquin Valley.

In The Dr. Oz Show segment, “Take Inches Off with Pistachios,” Dr. Oz explains why people should get nutty for this powerhouse snack. Pistachios were featured March 6 on The Dr. Oz Show –a nationally syndicated daytime talk show hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz. Its popularity is proven with over 3.4 million viewers daily in more than 118 countries.

Recent APG promotional efforts that could have contributed to this piece included: A New York City media event where APG representatives met with Dr. Oz producers; a MAT release for March National Nutrition Month featuring news of recent health and nutrition study results; and a press release for National Pistachio Day (February 26). Dr. Oz is also on APG’s list of media who receive pistachios from APG every other month with a nutrition message.

To view the Dr. Oz segment featuring pistachios click here.

APG’s new sample packs feature APG’s newest ambassadors – big mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones and pro cyclist Mark Cavendish. These 100-calorie sample packs are included in participant goodie bags at runs, marathons, cycling and swimming events. Back panels are designed to grab the attention of health-conscious consumers with their nutritional breakdown and positive comparisons to other healthy foods.

APG sampling events kicked-off our 2013/2014 fi scal year in December in Spain. Since then more than 19,000 sample packs have been distributed in the race goodie bags of these active consumers.

APG launched its fi rst-ever advertising campaign designed to transform consumer attitudes about pistachios. The full-page ads feature our “Power of Pistachios” campaign and athlete brand ambassadors. They are scheduled to run in health-oriented and lifestyle publications across Europe, China and in the United States.

Whether it’s National Pistachio Day (U.S.) or World Pistachio Day (abroad) - February 26 is a day for all to celebrate pistachios. It is a day that has been set aside for all pistachio lovers globally to eat their favorite nut all day long.

In the U.S., APG distributed a press release encouraging consumers to unshell the goodness of America’s little green nut on February 26, National Pistachio Day. The press release highlighted pistachios’ versatility as both a recipe and snack ingredient, and its range of health benefi ts, including benefi ts to consumers’ waistlines. To date, the press release has garnered more than 120 million impressions.

Abroad pistachios are also celebrated on February 26, but the holiday is called World Pistachio Day. In the U.K., our mascot American Pistachio hand-delivered APG media kits to the London press via a taxi cab wrapped in the “Power of Pistachios” featuring APG pro cyclist athlete ambassador Mark Cavendish. APG’s U.K. Health and Fitness ambassador Dr. Christian Jessen also took to the airwaves, broadcasting to over 2 million consumers about the powerful benefi ts of America’s pistachios. The event created new opportunities for pistachio coverage and resulted in more than 2.8 million impressions.

In Italy, APG invited journalists from leading publications to a media event with APG’s nutri-tion ambassador Dr. Giorgio Donegani, who is also the president of Food Education in Italy. Health, fi tness, and nutrition journalists from publications such as Men’s Health, Wellness and Vanity Fair attended the luncheon. Dr. Donegani spoke about pistachios’ range of health benefi ts, while the journalists enjoyed dishes created with America‘s delicious green nut.

In Spain, prior to World Pistachio Day, APG sent media kits that included American Pistachio mascot dolls and pistachio samples to the Spanish press. As a result of this effort, American Pistachios were featured on La Mañana – Spain’s national morning TV program – resulting in 980,000 impressions.

APG hosted an exclusive cooking demonstration for journalists from Italy’s Elle magazine. Chef Nicola Giani prepared three pistachio dishes using American pistachios for the journalists to sample: Pistachio, Apple, Asparagus and Feta Cheese Salad; Pasta with Artichokes, Olives and Roasted Pistachios; and Chocolate Truffl es with Pistachio Grain. The exclusive event scored a two-page article for APG in the March edition of Elle and featured Chef Giani’s pistachio creations.

Elle is a monthly print magazine. It is the world’s largest and best-selling fashion and lifestyle magazine with a circulation of more than 182 thousand consumers.

ISPO Munich is the world’s largest trade fair for sporting goods and sportswear in the world, with over 100 countries represented, more than 2,000 exhibitors and over 80,000 visitors-including the media, consumers and buyers. APG joined in the activities with a Summit sponsorship. The Summit is the center of activities where more than 13,000 visitors gathered each day to learn about action sports and nutritional needs for active lifestyles.

APG held a sports nutrition discussion with nutrition ambassador Nigel Mitchell and athlete ambassador Jeremy Jones at the Summit. The discussion covered the physical and nutritional demands of snowboarding, the important role nutrition plays in athletics and winter sports in particular, and optimization of nutrition for performance and health. Throughout the talk, pistachios were mentioned as a key dietary element for active lifestyles.

APG’s sponsorship of ISPO’s Summit included APG logo placement throughout the Summit area, press coverage of APG, several APG ads in the tradeshow publication as well as distribution of pistachio samples to consumers at the Summit.

Journalists from Spain’s leading sport, health and fi tness magazines attended a media event where APG nutrition ambassador Dr. Nieves Palacios spoke about the benefi ts of pistachio consumption for winter sport athletes who compete in high altitudes and cold environments. The event generated multiple articles, which resulted in over 3 million impressions.

Dr. Palacios is the Director General of the Superior Council of Sports in Spain.

Snowboarding and pistachio fans from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Japan had an opportunity to participate in APG’s Jones Snowboard Giveaway in one

of two ways: Facebook or at Carrefour hypermarkets in France. APG ambassador Pro-snowboarder Jeremy Jones, recipient of the 2013 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, powers his adventures with pistachios his offi cial snack. As a strong supporter of active outdoor lifestyles, APG gave away 34 Jones Snowboards during January and February 2014.

APG’s Facebook snowboard giveaway ran from January 20-31, 2014 and received 1,551 entries. To participate, all Facebook users needed to “like” APG’s Facebook page. The contest awarded snowboards randomly in an “instant win” style with Facebook users immediately being notifi ed of their winner status. There were 24 lucky Facebook winners in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Japan.

In France, APG partnered with Europe’s leading hypermarket, Carrefour, for the Jones snowboard giveaway. Six hundred APG display bins featuring Jeremy Jones and APG’s grower ambassadors were placed in 250 Carrefour hypermarkets. Peel-and-reveal promotional labels were applied to 150,000 fourteen-ounce bags of APG members’ pistachios (that also featured APG’s origin logo). For a chance to win, each label included a promotion code that had to be entered into the specially created website along with the contestant’s personal details. The promotion ran from January 1 through February 28, 2014.

Carrefour hypermarkets are superstores that offer a wide range of food and nonfood items, low prices and targeted promotions.

Invitations to APG’s upcoming four California regional membership meetings have been mailed to current and future grower members. If you have a friend/neighbor who has not yet joined APG, invite them to come enjoy a pleasant meal and brief summary of programs you help fund. They can ask questions and get a feeling for our democratic organization where participation and sharing of ideas is not only permitted, but forms the basis of our successful, growing association of pistachio industry members. To confi rm space, all that is needed is a call to the APG offi ce at (559) 475-0435 before Friday, April 25. We hope to see you and many future, soon-to-be current, members later this month.

From comfy trendy tees, to jackets, vests, hoodies, long-sleeve shirts, short-sleeve shirts, hats, caps, tote bags, mugs, tumblers and more, you’ll fi nd a wide selection of stylish branded clothing and accesories at the APG Store.

All merchandise can be ordered with APG logos including: American Pistachio Growers, the “Power of Pistachios,” California, Arizona and New Mexico origin logos and our popular American Pistachio mascot image.

Shopping at American Pistachio Growers Online Store is Easy:

Visit AmericanPistachios.org•

Click on Member Login (top right), and enter • your member login information

Click on APG Member Menu•

Then click on APG Store tab and start your • shopping spree at APG!