This story was originally published in PQ 49.
We Grow Self Care
As part of the National Peanut Board’s (NPB) 2023 campaign, “We Grow Comfort,” we introduced Gen Z and millennials to the idea of peanuts as a form of self-care. We took peanuts beyond their most common uses to offer ways to create positivity and comfort in their everyday lives – all while featuring peanuts and peanut butter! Our self-care kits received a ton of love on social media, garnering more than 6.7 million impressions (1) and 83,000 engagements (2).
A Common Comfort
NPB also created the first human-delicious, dog-safe recipes with Sherry Coleman Collins, MS, RDN, LD, as a common comfort food to share with our furry friends leading up to National Dog Day (8/26). With over 16.6 million impressions and 171,600 engagements, this activation tapped into a timely moment to create NPB’s first-ever menu of meals and engaged media and influencers to drive buzz. The click-to-shop vendor allowed purchases of peanut butter to be tracked along with other products included in the recipes. This shoppable site received over 14,000 landing page views. Further, when consumers viewed the recipes on the shoppable site, 11% added ingredients to their cart.
Dine with Comfort
Finally, NPB brought the comfort of a classic diner to life with a media and influencer preview night and weeklong menu takeover hosted by Chef Marcus Samuelsson. With international recognition and local appeal in Atlanta stemming from his new restaurant, Chef Marcus was the perfect partner for the activation. The preview night kicked off the restaurant takeover and included a multi-course menu featuring a variety of comfort foods with peanuts highlighted in each dish. The menu included a mix of upscale diner staples and some of the chef’s personal Southern favorites, such as peanut butter chicken and waffles and a PB&J old-fashioned. The restaurant was transformed by adding touches to the space that evoked comfort, nostalgia, and retro vibes, including neon signage, vinyl records, roller skates and more.
This multi-pronged approach across earned and paid media generated 109 placements and 867.5 million impressions – the most of any program this year! With the right spokesperson, NPB was able to deliver the message and promote the pop-up locally with influencers and media, who amplified and extended our message to further solidify our connection between peanuts as a comfort food.
The “We Grow Comfort” campaign and its three activations were overwhelmingly successful. The unique approaches – the first-ever self-care for peanuts, the first-ever food that could be enjoyed by both humans and dogs alike and a pop-up dining experience with peanut foods – stood out to Gen Z and millennials and highlighted all the ways peanuts and peanut butter are nutritious, delicious and comforting.
(1) An impression is an opportunity for content to be seen by someone, such as a friend’s post showing up on your social media feed.
(2) An engagement is when someone takes an action on the content, such as when you like, comment or share a friend’s post on social media.