Vidalia, GA – Fans of Georgia’s sweet onion printed almost fifty thousand Vidalia coupons this summer with a whopping 26 percent of those consumers redeeming them to cash in on Vidalias. Having more than a quarter of shoppers coast to coast take the coupons to the store is a boon for Vidalia growers and retailers alike; the couponing company reports eight percent would be typical for online redemption.
The Vidalia Onion Committee (VOC) launched a new Vidalia Onion Facebook page in conjunction with the coupon offer and year two of its promotional partnership with Universal Music Group Nashville. During the four month campaign, fans of the site shot up over 35,000.
“That first day was scary-sweet,” said Wendy Brannen, executive director of the VOC. Brannen reports the number of fans increased by the hundreds every few minutes, eventually finishing at over ten thousand by the end of the day.
“Seeing that much interest was so exciting it made you feel like a kid, but I also kept seeing the coupon redemption costs associated with every new fan ringing up like the slots in Vegas!” exclaimed Brannen.
The VOC continues to actively engage new fans with product details, promotional offers, contests, recipes and other interesting tidbits that will continue to boost retail sales.
The social media promotion featured free music downloads and prizes ranging from autographed country music CDs to a trip to the set of a country music video. Consumers “liked” the Vidalia fan page to receive a coupon to purchase Vidalia Onions by the pound or to buy bags of Vidalia Onions featuring country artists and new versions of old favorite Southern recipes. Home cooks were encouraged each week to enter a recipe photo contest to win country music CDs autographed by Universal artists. Weekly photo winners were entered to win a grand prize trip for two to the set of a country music video. Country music fans were also allowed to choose one of the 400,000 songs in the Universal Music catalog to download for free.
In 2011 during year one of the “Sweet Vidalias & Country Music” promotion, the Vidalia® Onion Committee held a national Vidalia Onion Jingle Contest. The contest was a success with over 60 entries from all over the U.S. and more than 136,000 visitors to the Vidalia onion website casting votes. All the entries can still be heard and enjoyed today at vidaliaonion.org.
About Vidalia® Onions
Vidalia® Onions are the pioneer of sweet onions and Georgia’s official state vegetable. Grown only in the mild climate and unique soil surrounding Vidalia, GA, they’re loved by chefs and home cooks throughout the world. Vidalia® Onions are hand planted and hand harvested each year, with sweet, juicy bulbs available seasonally from late April to late August. Vidalia® Onions, with their mild, sweet taste, are versatile and can be used in a variety of amazing recipes. These Georgia sweeties are also a low-calorie, fat, cholesterol and sodium-free way to get a healthy dose of Vitamin C! For more information, visit http://www.VidaliaOnion.org.
About the Vidalia® Onion Committee
Because Vidalia® Onions are sweetly unique, farmers were forced to unite and seek legal protection of their crop and its name. Federal Marketing Order No. 955 was established in 1989 to stipulate how and where the crop can be grown and sold. The Vidalia® Onion Committee administers FMO No. 955 and authorizes production research, marketing research and development, and marketing promotion programs. This federal protection reinforces Georgia state laws and the Vidalia® trademark. So, you can try to grow a sweet onion elsewhere, but you cannot call it a “Vidalia!” For more information, visit http://ww.VidaliaOnion.org.
Source: Vidalia® Onion Committee