Dive Brief:

• Produce brand Avocados from Mexico and General Mills' Old El Paso are partnering for the fourth time on promotions ahead of the Super Bowl. The two brands are executing the Guac Nation blogger program to feature avocado-based recipes, as well as dynamic in-store displays, coupons and content on social media to drive engagement and boost avocado sales, according to a press release.
• Guac Nation is a new blogger outreach program for food influencers to share recipes to reach their networks and position the brands as must-buy products on game-day grocery lists. The campaign runs from Jan. 3 to Feb. 4, which is Super Bowl Sunday.
• The campaign is activated through ChannelSight, a platform designed to boost ecommerce, to allow customers to access recipes and add AFM and Old El Paso products to their virtual shopping carts for a seamless purchasing journey that aims to drive in-store purchases.

Dive Insight:

As more consumers cut the cord on cable, marketers hoping for a boost from Super Bowl-related marketing are looking beyond static, event-specific marketing campaigns to multi-channel digital strategies and influencer content to lure customers to brick-and-mortar stores and connect with their brand while they're there.

While Super Bowl ads are traditionally some of the most talked-about marketing campaigns of the year thanks to their steep price tag and the game's massive viewership, the brand buzz they generate doesn't always correlate with actual sales increases. Avocados from Mexico, Skittles, T-Mobile and Bai had a significant increase in buzz after last year's Super Bowl, but there were no major gains in purchase consideration, per data by YouGov BrandIndex in Ad Age.

These days, most people do their shopping with their smartphones in hand or nearby, which is why Avocados from Mexico and Old El Paso are pushing influencer and social media marketing this year. Brands that offer digital shopping lists, recipes or other information that's easily accessible via mobile can better pull customers into stores and lead them to the checkout line quicker, offering a friction-free shopping journey. A Forester Research study found that 65% of tech-savvy consumers felt more confident about their in-store purchases when they conducted mobile research on the spot, signaling the importance of understanding shifts in users' shopping strategies.

Shoppable videos, augmented reality and beacons are some of the ways brands are luring customers into brick-and-mortar stores. Product displays are also effective. The Avocados from Mexico and Old El Paso partnership press release included data from AFM's 2016 Shopper Mindset Study, which found that 74% of shoppers were more likely to buy avocados when they saw avocado displays around the store. The AFM campaign with Old El Paso will include in-store co-branded bins, point-of-sale displays and retail-specific programming to maximize its reach and engage consumers who have demonstrated interest in the produce.

Marketing around the Super Bowl in 2018 has already attracted some big names, including first-timer Pringles, return engagements from M&M's and Doritos and an experiential push from Hyundai.