The FNV Campaign is a social marketing and PSE change intervention that aims to present fruits and vegetables in a way that is both fun and cool, ultimately shifting attitudes, behavior and social norms relative to healthy eating. The objectives of the FNV Campaign are to create positive attitudes toward fruits and vegetables and to drive increased consumption of fruits and vegetables in targeted communities amongst SNAP eligible audiences. Targeted at millennials, the FNV campaign uses humor and the power of local and/or national celebrity to voluntarily shift consumer behavior toward healthier dietary choices. The campaign’s recommended approach includes surround sound marketing through billboards, retail, and transit media placements and in advertising buys on social and digital media, but it can be customized and tailored based on individual campaign needs.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating

Intervention Type: Social Marketing, PSE Change

The FNV Campaign targets millennials (age 18-34 years of age) and is designed for use in multiple settings using components of social marketing. As an example, the FNV Campaign was adapted for SNAP-Ed by Wisconsin in 2017. Local events were held, and FNV messages were placed on digital and social media, transit, billboards, and in retail environments throughout 4 communities (Eau Claire, Green Bay, La Crosse, and Milwaukee). During the first 6 months, the campaign delivered 23 million digital impressions, 14 million social media impressions, and 17,552 transit impressions. More than 15 billboards and 30 retailers featured campaign messages. At the end of 2017, the FNV campaign had an unduplicated reach of 55,546 people (97% reached had household earnings of <$25,000 per year; 80% were 18-24 years old).

Setting: Community gardens, Farmers markets, Community (Live), Food pantries, Retail (Shop/Eat), School (Learn), Worksite (Work)

Target Audience: High School, Pregnant/Breastfeeding Women, Parents/Mothers/Fathers, Adults, Homeless/Food Pantry Clients

Race/Ethnicity: All

The FNV Campaign includes digital, social, transit, retail, billboard media and radio components. These intervention components provide the creative media to successfully implement a celebrity-driven social marketing campaign that resonates with appropriate audiences to change attitudes toward fruits and vegetables and drive increased consumption. All components are customizable to each project depending on formative research, budget, location, and targets. Additionally, a local approach to customizing the campaign assets is encouraged to create locally relevant messages to reach intended audiences. To implement the intervention, it is recommended that formative research and pre-test surveys are conducted to create messages tailored to each situation. At least 3-6 months of a media campaign is also recommended to include multiple touchpoints online and offline. After the media components have been delivered, conducting a post-test survey to evaluate campaign effectiveness is performed.

The FNV Campaign includes promotional materials featuring national and local celebrities and non-celebrities as well as fruit and vegetable focused messages designed for various outlets. These outlets include billboards; social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter); digital, radio, and print advertisements; retail advertisements (aisle blades, shelf talkers, freezer clings, floor clings, ceiling danglers, banner stands, window clings); and posters.

There is a licensing fee to use the campaign materials. Additionally, there is a cost to adapt the campaign to a new market based upon the level of customization requested.

Evaluation of the Wisconsin FNV campaign included focus groups to inform campaign development and a digital pre/post test survey measuring the impact of the campaign on attitudes, behavior, and campaign recall. After 6 months, 22% of respondents in intervention communities reported seeing the FNV campaign, a statistically significant increase from control communities. Moreover, those remembering the FNV WI campaign material reported eating one more serving of fruit and one more serving of vegetables per day than those not remembering the campaign.

Additionally, the broader FNV campaign has tested retail activations. Farm Fresh, a retailer located in a FNV pilot market, activated a “FNV takeover” in Norfolk, VA and saw a 2.5% category growth in produce across 43 stores. The Partnership for a Healthier America and the Food Trust activated a FNV campaign in low-income New Orleans retail. A pre/post intercept survey conducted with the National Marketing Institute and found statistically significant increases in self-reported purchases and consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Evidence-based Approach: Emerging

Based on the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework, the following outcome indicators can be used to evaluate intervention progress and success.

	Readiness and Capacity – Short Term (ST)	Changes – Medium Term (MT)	Effectiveness and Maintenance – Long Term (LT)	Population Results (R)
Individual	ST1	MT1
Environmental Settings	ST7	MT5
Sectors of Influence	ST8	MT12

• ST1a: Individuals who remembered seeing the FNV WI campaign material reported eating greater than one more serving of fruit per day than those who did not remember seeing the campaign.
• ST1b: Individuals who remembered seeing the FNV WI campaign material reported eating greater than one more serving of fruit per day than those who did not remember seeing the campaign.
• MT1c: In the first 6 months, there were no differences from baseline to follow-up between intervention and comparison community respondents in regards to the number of different kinds of fruits consumed.
• MT1d: In the first 6 months, there were no differences from baseline to follow-up between intervention and comparison community respondents in regards to the number of different kinds of vegetables consumed.
• ST7a: More than 25 local partners were involved in campaign implementation during the first 6 months.
• ST7b: Overall, partners reported a 16% average increase in the strength of their relationships with other implementing partners between December 2016 and 2017. As the intervention period progressed, partners reported a 111% increase in their agreement that implementing partners had a shared mission and goals.
• MT5: One retailer reported overall produce sales increase by 5% since placing FNV materials in store and one of the partners reported that one other convenience store continues to stock at least 5 additional fruits and vegetables. Lastly, a large retailer with stores across the state has now decided to roll out FNV in all its stores across WI.
• MT12a: In Wisconsin, 1 social marketing campaign (FNV) was piloted in 2017. The campaign was then adopted in 3 communities and expanded to a total of 15 communities statewide by federal fiscal year 2019. FNV has also been implemented through SNAP-Ed in California, Georgia, and North Carolina.
• MT12c: In 6 months, there was no significant difference in unaided recall between the intervention and comparison communities; however, there was a statistically significant difference in the aided recall with 22% of respondents from the intervention communities noticing FNV materials compared to 12% in control communities.

Organizations or states interested in implementing the FNV campaign have access to formative research questions for campaign design. Additionally, evaluation frameworks developed by Wisconsin and Georgia SNAP-Ed teams as well as a digital pre-and post-test consumer surveys measuring the impact of the campaign on individual attitudes, behavior and campaign recall are available.

Wisconsin takes a stand for fruits and veggies with social marketing campaign:

https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/success-stories/wisconsin-takes-stand-fruits-and-veggies-social-marketing-campaign

 

Website: The FNV website includes information about the campaign materials.

Contact Person(s):
Jason Wilson
SVP of Marketing & Communications, Partnership for a Healthier America
Phone: 571-224-3787
Email: jwilson@ahealthieramerica.org

 

*Updated as of August 28, 2023