Dole serves native content as sponsor of Taste of Home's new baking site

Dive Brief:

Dole Packaged Foods is the launch sponsor of "Bakeable," Trusted Media Brands' new baking content platform for Taste of Home, according to a press release. The hub features recipes, tips, newsletters, contests and videos while the Bakeable brand also has a presence on Facebook and in the Taste of Home magazine.
Dole's messaging has been integrated into Bakeable's holiday programming, including native articles and custom videos highlighting recipes featuring Dole's canned pineapple. Dole is the only advertiser on the site for the launch.
Taste of Home's baking content generated an average of 6.6 million unique monthly visitors last year, driving the publisher to create a new dedicated hub for baking, per the press release.

Dive Insight:

By spinning out its baking recipes to a dedicated site, Trusted Media Brands is looking to tap into that large audience of more than 6 million monthly unique visitors and deliver a dedicated experience just for baking. Bakeable offers the publisher to attract new sponsors at a time when brands are looking for ways to get in front of ad-averse consumers with messaging that doesn't look or feel like a traditional ad, such a native content and videos.

In a report earlier this year, eMarketer said that native advertising, which its described as digital ads that look like standard content on a platform, is overtaking display ads as consumers shift their media consumption to social media and mobile platforms, where display ads are more disruptive to the user experience.

Trusted Media Brands' Taste of Home has a history of signing sponsors for the holiday season. For the past five years, Folgers has sponsored the main Taste of Home site during the holidays.

Last year, Folgers sponsored Taste of Home's experiential element called annual Gingerbread Boulevard experience in New York, were visitors could enter a contest to win a free holiday brunch in the special house with Folgers coffee. The brew was also handed out at the city's Christmas tree lighting to extend the reach of the local campaign.

With the sponsorship, Dole has the opportunity to tap into Taste of Home's large audience base, which includes an active social community of home bakers that participate in monthly baking challenges and share recipes and photos of their baked goods online. By integrating recipes featuring its canned pineapple product, Dole has the potential to capitalize on this enthusiasm.

Partnering with a site dedicated to classic home cooking helps Dole keep with its recent advertising theme. Last year, the brand ran a 30-second spot called "Traditions," highlighting how one mother connected with her daughter using Dole Fruit Bowls. The spot played up the brand's heritage and how recipes using its products have been passed down through generations.