The 2020-21 Texas 1015 Sweet Onion marketing campaign, TX1015, recently wrapped up for the season. Funded by a USDA Specialty Crop Grant administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture, the new marketing program of the Texas International Produce Association (TIPA) focused efforts directly on American consumers through a variety of platforms, engagements and awareness campaigns.
In previous years, the TX1015 onion program “suffered from a lack of consistent branding and marketing focus compared to their similar counterparts,” a July 22 TX1015 release noted. “This new campaign provided industry awareness and excitement with new branding and messaging, as well as a host of consumer outreach tools that leveraged the iconic symbols and colors of Texas. The program, led by the theme ‘Farmed by Texans, Famous by Families,’ focused on telling the stories of history, place and people that make these onions special.”
The release went on to say that the program “used both traditional and digital marketing methods to engage with consumers,” and it said, “The first year of the campaign resulted in over 18,000 direct social engagements, 14 new TX1015 recipes, and it cataloged over 1.4 million impressions in a MAT release.”
In addition, “storytelling in a two-part video series captured the people behind the brand highlighting the TX1015 growers, packers and shippers in ‘How do you eat a Texas Sweet Onion’ and ‘South Texas Farming – Building a Family Legacy.’”
Dante Galeazzi, manager of the South Texas Onion Committee and CEO and President of TIPA was quoted as saying, “This type of marketing focus is long overdue to create the brand awareness that Texas 1015 onions deserve.” He continued, “It was fun to watch the energy and excitement of consumers build around the TX1015 brand, and in turn get retail buyers giving Texas 1015s a closer look. It will be fun to see what we can do next season.”
The 2021 sweet onion crop harvesting ended in late June, and the marketing campaign ended July. The planning phase for the 2021-22 marketing plan begins in September, and planting of the TX1015 crop begins in October.
