Holistic, Innovative Marketing Part of the Culture for CMI Orchards

“We always market with an eye to innovation,” says Rochelle Bohm, CMI Orchards Vice President of Marketing. “We like to try and shake things up in the produce aisle and introduce innovation wherever possible.”

A Program Approach to Innovative Marketing

It’s a good time to have an innovative culture, with more than half the population being Gen Z and Millennials. These groups are digitally acclimated, and they like personalization over the mass corporate marketing approach of the past. In response to the consumer changeover, CMI Orchards focuses more in the digital space by building different apps and other projects that tap into that digital fluency and provide creative interactive tools. One of the apps is called Apple Crush, a gamified dating app for apples.

“We just like testing new things,” Bohm says. “We’re not afraid to take some calculated risks on different approaches, and we pull a lot of cues from other departments across the store, too. Our budgets within produce are a lot smaller than some of the other CPG brands, but that doesn’t mean we can’t tap into some of the tactics that work really well in those categories – just on a smaller scale. So, we do keep our eye on what other people are doing in other industries. Even if it’s cosmetics, perfume, wine or beer, we look at what’s working and say, ‘How can we adapt that to produce and keep it fresh?’”

The goal of these new approaches is not only to get people thinking about their favorite apples, pears and cherries, but also to encourage them to try new ones. It’s not just innovation for innovation’s sake. CMI Orchards takes an intentional program approach to their innovative marketing initiatives.

“We take a program approach to marketing,” Bohm says. “We understand that it’s tough for retailers to switch things out, and it’s an easier sell if we can come to them with a program that says, okay, just take this program, and we’ll slot in different varieties, whether it’s just different apple varieties to fall under an umbrella, like American Dream® or Flavors of the World®. They can sign on to the program, and then we will push different varieties under that umbrella that make sense for seasonality or the flavor preferences of that market.”

Holistic Marketing with Media

The CMI Orchard approach extends beyond the produce aisle. The approach to media partners also centers around innovation with a holistic approach. A longtime partner with The Packer, the company participates in the West Coast Produce Expo and pairs it up with other advertising opportunities to tease show participation, as well as digital, print, and other innovative tactics outside of show promotion.

“By the time we land at the show, we’re ready to have our customers swing by and check out what’s new,” Bohm says. “Having that holistic approach, where they’re seeing us ahead of time in their inboxes, on their desks when the print publications drop, and then in person at the show, gives us a multi-prong approach to making sure we hit our targets.”

CMI Orchards doesn’t only innovate in-store, but the company also tries different tactics and ideas in their marketing.

“We love being the guinea pig that tries out the new hook in different advertising tools or at West Coast Produce Expo, whether it’s a Ferris wheel, a music game or whatever the creative people on the Farm Journal team come up with,” Bohm says. “We like to try it out. We’ve had great success with a lot of the different tools that we’ve tried. Things like where you don’t feel like you’re working, but yet you get the opportunity to network and just have some fun with the people that we work with every day. We also use these opportunities to build new networks and relationships within the produce sector. So those opportunities that we get to sponsor and be part of are very meaningful to CMI.”

Taking Advantage of All the Tools Available

In today’s world, there are so many tools and avenues to reach audiences, which have not only added complexity but also opportunity for creativity.

“It’s important to make sure you’re aware of, and taking advantage of, all the great tools that are available,” Bohm says. “We don’t want to just apply a single tactic because each one speaks to a different audience member. So we take advantage of a range of tools that are available, so we can hit a wide range of customers at one time. We like to pilot test new ideas the team at The Packer comes up with, and champion them for the industry as another avenue to connect with people and take a calculated risk. We really appreciate and value our partnership with The Packer to make that possible.”   

Measurement and metrics are other tools used to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing, but do those measurements include anecdotal evidence from customers? CMI Orchards likes the “grassroots style” feedback, and the team is trained to listen and report back the anecdotal feedback and word of mouth about the marketing and tactics.

The innovative approach CMI Orchards takes to marketing is a culture they cultivate intentionally internally and with their media partners, which opens doors for them as a smaller company.

“We’re just curious people trying to keep abreast of trends any way we can,” Bohm says.

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