The San Jose Group Honored With Excellence Award By The Communicator.

The San Jose Group recently won an Award of Excellence, the highest honor in The Communicator Awards competition, for its radio advertising campaign for the National Pork Board. The campaign has helped to increase awareness of the attributes of pork among U.S. Hispanics.

The Communicator Awards is a national awards competition founded by communication professionals to recognize excellence in the communication field. The Communicator Awards holds annual competitions in audio, video and print media categories. There were 1,249 entries in the audio category from the United States as well as numerous foreign countries.

Unlike the famous general market campaign, “The Other White Meat,” which inspires the mass market to eat pork as an alternative to regularly prepared meals, the Hispanic campaign “El Cerdo es Bueno” (Pork is Good) is inspired by concerns about health and safety issues, based on the ways pork was raised in Hispanic consumers’ countries of origin.

The first-of-their-kind radio spots use clever plays-on-words and tell humorous stories of U.S. Pork, as a character, dealing with an unfair reputation, and explaining that U.S. Pork is not only is delicious, but also healthy and safe. One spot extols the virtues of pork by weaving a comical story of pigs in military training. Another is set in a courtroom with U.S. Pork defending himself as healthy. “…Another dirty lie! I am U.S. Pork. Now 31 percent lower in fat than the pork your grandparents ate,” defends U.S. Pork in the “Trial” radio spot.

The spots are part of a campaign, including print, retail, outdoor and public relations elements, which has been showcased at various marketing and food industry conferences as a best practices program.

Post-advertising research has shown a rise in pork consumption by Hispanics in the three markets where the Hispanic campaign has run. Overall, awareness of the advertising increased more than 200 percent and weekly purchases increased by 42 percent.

The National Pork Board campaign is one that clearly shows the value of an integrated campaign based on research,” explained George L. San Jose, president and COO of The San Jose Group. “Only by knowing the target market’s perceptions, are we able to create effective marketing programs.”