Grown in Idaho
Frozen Potatoes

Creating a social presence that builds awareness
and drives trial for a new brand.

From zero to 50,000 fans in under a year.

When Lamb Weston Foods chose EHY to help launch its new Grown In Idaho brand, we already knew something about selling  potatoes. After all, we’ve been marketing fresh potatoes for the Idaho Potato Commission for nearly 20 years. So we immediately began to create a social identity for Grown In Idaho that reflected the brand’s key points of difference – 100% Idaho frozen potatoes that cook up crispy on the outside, tender on the inside (top ranking consumer preferences.)

Our core challenge was to help build demand for the new brand to market by creating a relevant, active social community around it.

The target audience was sizable (whose family doesn’t like crispy fries, right?) nearly 70 million women, over 90% of whom are active on social media, spending upwards of two hours a day online. The Facebook ecosystem dominates our audience in terms of reach and engagement. And not surprisingly, the key audience participation motivator is entertainment, followed by the desire to learn and to share and communicate.

We created a friendly, neighborly social persona with a wide range of interests and a sense of humor. We’re all about family, from food to foibles. We have a never-ending supply of helpful hints and hacks and we’re always on the lookout for more. We’re proud of where we come from – not just our Idaho potatoes, but everything that makes our region fun and interesting. We’re curious about you and where you live. And we love nothing more than a neighborly chat, no matter who or where that neighbor is.

Why start from scratch if you don't have to?

We multiplied the power of Grown In Idaho’s launch efforts in television, print, public relations and, of course, social, by capitalizing on six decades of marketing and millions of dollars previously invested by the Idaho Potato Commission in building the powerful Idaho® Potatoes brand. In fact, we even enlisted their well known Idaho Potato Farmer (who really is one) spokesman to help tell the Grown In Idaho story.

+50,000
Facebook Fans
28.6%
Average Facebook Engagement Rate
11%
Increase in Social Traffic to Brand Site YoY

We've done more than create a social program that delivers fans and followers.

The program has also contributed to real world sales results. The Grown In Idaho line of frozen potatoes has achieved a 4.5% share of the market in one year. And, as the first significant new product in several years, GII has helped expand the Frozen category by 2.5% and attracted new shoppers to the section.

We created a friendly, neighborly social persona with a wide range of interests and a sense of humor.