March 29, 2022 • 43 mins
Spring is in the air and opening day of baseball is just around the corner. Peanuts and baseball became a pair as early as the 1890s and is still a classic ballpark snack. We’ll highlight the history of peanuts and baseball, how in-shells are rebounding from the pandemic and how other sports are making new connections with peanuts and peanut butter. Our episode features Jeanne Cashman from Hampton Farms, Virginia peanut farmer Westley Drake, Joy Crosby from the Georgia Peanut Commission, and Matt Jenkins of The18.
For more information on sports and peanuts:
- The Story Behind Peanuts and Baseball
- Don’t Strike Out with Snacks at the Ballpark. Peanuts are a Home Run
- Without Fans in the Stands, Ballpark Peanuts Are Sidelined
- Not Your Mama’s Ballpark Food
NPB with The18
- Two Generations, One Team: Quotes from Two of America’s Best
- PB&Japan with Weston McKinnie
- PB&Japan with Sydney Leroux
Past Sports Marketing Activations:
- We’re Celebrating that Baseball is Back with America’s Favorite Snack
- Don’t Sell Out -- “Shell Out” and Show Your Love for Peanuts
To find out more information about the sports nutrition of peanuts:
- How Peanuts Can Help Athletes Level Up Their Performance
- Peanut Power for Athletes
- Peanuts Can Fuel Your Fitness, Sports & Fitness Nutrition, Expert Says
- 5 Reasons Athletes Can’t Get Enough PB&J
- How PB Can Help You PR This Summer
- The Power of Peanut Protein
- Peanut Butter Sets this Sports RD’s Heart Aflutter
- How Peanuts Power Athletes
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lindsay Stevens (00:05):
The year is 1895 Baseball is the national
pastime and a pioneeringballpark concessioner named
Harry Stevens decides to selladvertising space on scorecards
to a peanut company. The catch,instead of financial payment,
the company pays them inpeanuts, which Stevens then
sells to the ballparks.
According to Bennett Jacobson,author of "The Joy of Ballpark
Food", this was the beginning ofa long history of peanuts in
(00:28):
baseball.
Lauren Highfill Williams (00:31):
But why were peanuts such a hit at
stadiums? According to Stevens'grandson, they've never been
popular at racetracks becausepeople need to keep their hands
free for betting. In baseball,the tension builds slowly.
eating peanuts is part of anervous habit. It gives you
something to do with your hands.
Another common image associatedwith baseball is the peanut
(00:51):
vendor. The peanut vendor datesback to vendors calling,
"peanuts here!" on streetcorners after the Civil War. And
although the phrase didn't beginwith baseball, it's become
synonymous with today'sballparks.
Lindsay Stevens (01:05):
Roger Owens, also known as the peanut man, a
Dodger Stadium is probably thebest known peanut vendor. Owens
gained fame for his trick throwsof peanut bags behind the back
forward pass switch shot up to30 rows away even. But not only
does he have his own ESPNfeature, he has also made an
appearance on The Tonight Show.
Lauren Highfill William (01:24):
Peanuts at the game these days please
both traditionalist andadventurous eaters. It's
reported that pre-COVID betweenfour to 7 million bags of
peanuts were eaten each year atbaseball stadiums.
Lindsay Stevens (01:37):
But perhaps the most iconic image of peanuts and
baseball came to in 1908 withTake Me Out to the Ballgame. Not
only has the song becomesomewhat of an anthem for the
sport, but it's also become agreat way to plug our favorite
products without having to payfor ads.
Lauren Highfill William (01:53):
Welcome to The Peanut Podcast. I'm
Lauren Hghfill Williams.
Lindsay Stevens (01:57):
And I'm Lindsay Stevens.
Lauren Highfill Williams (01:59):
As you probably picked up on, today
we're going to be talking aboutpeanuts and baseball. We'll be
touching on the relationship ofpeanuts and baseball today. How
in-shells are rebounding fromthe pandemic and how other
sports like soccer are makingnew connections with peanuts and
peanut butter. So we covered abrief history of peanuts and
baseball. Now we're going to betalking about peanuts and
(02:22):
baseball today. We sat down withJeanne Cashman, the Director of
Brand Marketing at Hamptonfarms. Jeanne not only is
involved in the baseballmarketing efforts, but she's
also a fan of the sport.
Jeanne Cashman (02:33):
So when I was young, my dad used to take us to
this local team. It was a a farmteam for the Yankees, but we
were in Greensboro at the time,they were called the Hornets.
And we would get peanuts andjust the whole I was so excited
to go and get the ice cream andthe little ball cap and the
(02:54):
seventh inning stretch. I waspretty small though, I was
probably like five or six. Mybrothers were much older. But
yeah, it was definitely a fondmemory on like hot summer
nights. I remember going to thatbaseball stadium in Greensboro
Lauren Highfill William (03:07):
Hampton Farms is the largest supplier of
in-shell peanuts to baseballstadiums. They sell more than
3.7 million bags of ballparkpeanuts every year.
Jeanne Cashman (03:16):
Yes. So I would say for our total in-shell
business is probably about 15%of our business. So we sell a
lot to stadiums, to major leaguestadiums, minor league stadiums,
college stadiums for baseball.
But then the other part of ourbusiness is we have these
branded Major League 12 ouncebags for all the teams except
(03:40):
for Toronto's so the other 31teams, and they're all sold in
major grocery stores andretailers and Walmart. And so a
lot of our business comes fromthat as well. So it's kind of a
nice pairing because you can eatthe peanuts in the stadium and
then we can advertise in theprogram or on the Jumbotron, and
then send people to the retaileras well to buy the branded bags.
Lindsay Stevens (04:06):
Just a few minutes down the road from
Hampton farms headquarters isVirginia peanut farmer Westley
Drake. Wes is a 14th generationfarmer. Here's a little about
him and why he went intofarming.
Westley Drake (04:17):
Being a 14th generation farmer has everything
to do with why I had anopportunity to farm but it has
nothing to do with the reasonthat I chose to farm. The reason
that I chose to farm is becauseI developed a passion and a love
of agriculture at a young age,and I see so much promise and
(04:42):
just an exciting future in thisindustry. I genuinely love what
I do when I'm working on thefarm day in and day out. And I
love that I get to work with myfamily. And so you know, I I
feel like people might say,well, you're a 14th generation
farmer that means your parentsmust have made you, you know,
(05:03):
you must feel like you have tobe there. But every day that I
work here is a choice. You know,and I would choose, I chose
farming when I got out ofcollege, and I choose that every
day because this is what I loveto do.
Lindsay Stevens (05:18):
As you may know, we have different types of
peanuts as a result of years ofboth wild and selective
breeding. Peanuts grown acrossthe South in southeastern US
have different characteristicsand uses. The most popular type
of peanuts for ballparks is theVirginia peanut. Considered the
gourmet peanut type, Virginiapeanuts have large kernels.
Because of their large size andpremium characteristics, this
(05:40):
variety is best suited forsnacking instead of in peanut
butter. Wes exclusively growsVirginia type peanuts on his
farm.
Westley Drake (05:47):
Virginia peanuts, for those who may not know are
the largest of the four markettypes that are grown in
Virginia. I mean, grown in theUnited States, also in Virginia,
got a little tongue tied there.
But so they are the mostdesirable because of their
taste, their flavor, the waythey look, they have pretty
white hulls. And Hampton Farmsis the largest processor of
(06:09):
these Virginia type peanuts thatare in the shell that you
typically see at baseball games.
And they are located about Iwill say about 10 miles or so
from my house. And they have a,that's where they're based at
they also have processing plantsand other places around the
country. But that's where theirhome facility is. They have a
(06:31):
large interest in the Virginiatype peanuts in this area. And
most of the peanuts that aregrown in this area go into that
in-shell market.
Lindsay Stevens (06:40):
For Wes, the connection between peanuts and
baseball is obvious.
Westley Drake (06:44):
Well, peanuts and baseball go hand in hand. I grew
up in a small rural town, andplayed baseball as a child and
then later decided it wasn't mything. So I gained regained
interest in the sport later inmy life, and more recently
become kind of kind of abaseball fan again. But one
(07:05):
thing that's been the samethroughout my whole entire life
was from a kid all the way up tonow, whenever I go to a baseball
park, you always see Peanuts,peanuts, or they're fun to eat
when you're when you'reoutdoors. Or you can just you
can sit there and you can showthe peanuts and throw the shales
on the ground. There's somesatisfaction to make while
(07:26):
you're sitting in the state. Butthey just have wonderful, and
it's kind of this. I almost saylike a nostalgic feeling that
you're just kind of meant to eatpeanuts at these outdoor
sporting events. I mean, it justgoes so well with a soft drink.
And you can sit there and snackon them at your own pace. But if
(07:48):
you're like me, you go throughyour bag kind of fast. And then
you're then you're wantinganother one, you know.
Lauren Highfill Williams (07:56):
The thrill of the baseball stadium
experience was silenced in 2020when the pandemic hit and closed
ballparks and sports venuesacross the country. With no fans
in the stands to sell in-shellsto, there was an initial fear
that in-shell sales wouldplummet. But what really
happened may surprise you.
Here's Jeanne on what Hamptonfarms experienced over the
(08:16):
course of the past couple ofyears.
Jeanne Cashman (08:21):
During the pandemic, actually our total in
Shell business was up 15% overprior year. So for the pandemic,
you know, people were just usingpeanuts in other ways. We did
see that unsalted or justroasted were up even more than
salted, which I thought was kindof interesting, because usually
(08:43):
that's kind of regional, youknow, roasted unsalted peanuts,
more in the northeast and outwest. But we saw growth across
the nation on unsalted. So Ithought that was an interesting
fact. But even though ourstadium sales were off, you
know, especially in 2020,because it really ended
abruptly, right, like, right inspring training, march 12. It
(09:06):
was over, it really didn't comeback until the end of July like
July 23. And even at that time,it was just 60 games. And you
know, no attendance basically.
So we really had to work more onthe retail side of the business
that I talked about earlier withthe 12 ounce bags that we have
that are brand new with all thedifferent teams set but 2020 was
challenging for us for MajorLeague Baseball sales, for sure.
(09:30):
2021 It got better, for sure.
Because, you know, the seasonwas kind of back attendance was
not all the way there. But westarted to have in stadium sales
plus a retail business on the 12ounce bags did much much better
in 2021.
Lauren Highfill Williams (09:50):
Some of these trends from the
pandemic have continued.
Jeanne Cashman (09:55):
I think it's probably two things or it could
be more than that. But the twothat we were able to identify
was one just people deem youknow, unsalted peanuts a little
bit healthier. There was a lotof snacking during the pandemic,
at the beginning in 2020. Butthen, after it went on eight
months or so then people werelike, wow, I need to start
(10:17):
eating a little bit healthier.
So from some of the researchthat we've seen, people did
change their dietary habits alittle bit into the pandemic. At
first, we just kind of werehunkered down and under comfort
mode and kind of eating forcomfort and watching a lot of
Netflix and that sort of thing.
And then people were like, Oh,this is going to be around a
while so they kind of changetheir eating habits a bit. But I
(10:38):
also think that maybe there wassome wildlife being fed with the
unsalted as well, just from someof the research I've seen. Yeah,
squirrels and birds, that sortof thing.
Lindsay Stevens (10:49):
Like Jean said earlier, the baseball connection
is still there for peanuts, butthere are new ways the industry
is showing up for the sport.
Some of this was influenced byCOVID, but others have sprung
from wanting to connect theiraudience to how the snack is
produced. Some things NPB hasdone over the years includes our
support for in-shell salesduring the pandemic, with a TV
commercial encouraging fans toenjoy peanuts as a snack or
(11:10):
watching the game at home.
Commercial Clip (11:20):
If you can't get to a ballpark, ballpark, do
you because no matter where youare,
Lindsay Stevens (11:26):
NPB also has a whole online personality called
Peanuts Here! on Instagram andTwitter to toss peanuts into
social media conversations likea modern day peanut vendor. On a
state level, the Virginia PeanutGrowers Association supports
baseball by having their farmerspass out packs of peanuts at a
local minor league game.
Westley Drake (11:45):
One of the coolest things that I think
about when I think about peanutsin baseball is the Virginia
peanut Growers Association ofwhich I'm a member of, we have a
event every summer at a baseballpark in Richmond, Virginia. It's
a minor league team called theRichmond Squirrels. And the it's
(12:05):
interesting that the squirrelshave a peanut night, but they
do. So it goes it goes togetherreally well. And what we do at
that event is we allow the thepeanut farmers from the Virginia
peanut grower association to goup to the baseball park and
interact with fans. As they comein to the baseball park, we're
there to greet them. We givethem free peanut samples, and
(12:25):
we're there to interact withthem and tell them more about
peanuts because they'reobviously very interested in
what we're doing. And like yousaid, it's a very fitting event
because peanuts in baseball gohand in hand so that whenever I
think about the two, I reallyenjoy going to that game every
year and interacting with fansand being a peanut farmer there
(12:46):
and handing out free peanutsamples.
Lindsay Stevens (12:48):
Hampton Farms is feeling positive about the
future for in-shells and hasmany programs that support the
connection between peanuts andbaseball from MLB box mailings
for retail buyers to apartnership with an Instagram
account that highlights culinarycreations by major league shops.
Jeanne Cashman (13:02):
We're working on all of our marketing activations
as well with retailers and someinfluencer programs, which I
think will be really strong.
Currently, we're sending outabout 75 Major League Baseball
boxes to all of our buyers atthe major retailers just promote
our major league bags andprovide facts and you know, just
(13:22):
get them excited about theseason like its back type of
thing. So yes, we're feelinggood about about the intial
market for this year. But inparticularl for Major League
Baseball, we had the boxes madeexactly like the boxes that you
would find at retail. And theninside it we put the buyers
(13:44):
favorite team the bags, and wedid the kind of charcuterie
board theme with wooden baseballcharcuterie boards, and then
recipes inside so kind of fun.
But um, other promotions we'vedone so obviously, retail
display contests are very bigfor us, especially out west and
(14:05):
in the northeast, our retailersget really behind it and in our
merchandisers and our buyers, sothat's a fun one. We, we pair
very well obviously with beerpartners. So we've partnered
with Corona and we've hadBudweiser partnerships, displays
and coupons and we've had thosein the past and we have those
this year as well. So that'salso a good one. Um, some other
(14:29):
things we've done like hot playof the week for Little League,
because little league is big anda lot of the teams are named
after the major league team. Sowe try to work with little
league teams to to kind of getsome excitement at different
ages. What else we could havedone Oh, we've partnered with
Major League chefs, an Instagramaccount and we do a lot of fan
(14:53):
packs and giveaways and recipeswith them. We've also worked
with Umps Care charity. Theywere founded by umpires and they
provide financial and emotionalsupport for America's youth and
families that are in need.
Lindsay Stevens (15:10):
The Georgia Peanut Commission is located in
the heart of Braves country, soit's no surprise that they have
embraced the peanuts in baseballconnection for many years. Joy
Crosby is the assistantexecutive director of the
Georgia Peanut Commission andhas fond memories of baseball
that crossover into her roletoday.
Joy Crosby (15:27):
Well as as long as I can remember, I've been a Braves
fan. And I even remember as asmall child, having Dale
Murphy's baseball card. And justthrough the years, I've been
very fortunate with my job atthe Peanut Commission that I
have been able to go to avariety of sporting events,
helping promote peanuts, and alot of them have offered really
(15:51):
a lot of fun opportunities withmeeting some of the athletes and
just, you know, meeting theconsumers and hearing their
stories of why they lovepeanuts. But today, you know, as
a mom, I have a son who'sstarting to play Little League
baseball. And so I just knowthat in my future, I see a lot
(16:12):
of baseball games, where I'll betaking peanuts snacks for my son
and his teammates to enjoy,especially right after the game
to help refuel them and get themready for the next day.
Lindsay Stevens (16:24):
From enjoying sharing peanuts with her son's
teammates to promoting peanutsin the major leagues Joy and GPC
have done a lot of work withpeanuts and baseball.
Joy Crosby (16:33):
Yes, the Georgia Peanut Commission has done a
variety of programs with theBraves since around 2015.
Initially, our partnershipincluded radio spots through the
Braves radio network with 680the fan. But it's really through
the years has grown to includeso much more. We've added social
(16:53):
media components, digital bannerads, as well as in game exposure
projects. And even on siteevents prior to the games. This
past August, we were actuallyable to team up with the Braves
at one of their kids club runevents. And during this event,
we were able to pass out copiesof our new book a home run for
(17:15):
peanuts. And we're able to givepeople samples of our peanuts as
well as educational materialsand really visit with the
families who were there that hadsmall children and educate them
on some of the nutritionalbenefits of eating peanuts and
peanut butter. Also, the eventincluded our logo throughout the
(17:37):
game. And so we were on the LEDboards in Truist Park. And we're
really excited for our nextevent with the Braves, which
will be Memorial Day weekend fortheir school's out event.
Lindsay Stevens (17:53):
When planning successful and effective
promotions, Joy has a lot toconsider.
Joy Crosby (17:58):
Well for any of our sporting event promotions, we
really like to includepromotions that have a broad
spectrum of ways to reach thefans. And that can include
everything from advertising,whether it's through radio,
television, or print ads in thegames, program booklets, or in
(18:19):
game digital components or eventhe same plant opportunities.
But really, we, you know, wereally love to see the fan
engagement, especially whenwe're at events where the fans
actually come up to us to getthe sample. And they tell us
stories about how much they loveeating Georgia peanuts or you
(18:39):
know how you know our new recipethey have using peanuts or
peanut butter. So really thatfan engagement is what makes it
successful for us. And it reallywith all the variety of sporting
programs that we sponsor, itreally gives us an avenue to
reach a variety of age ranges,and a variety of people that are
(19:01):
interested in different sportingevents.
Lauren Highfill Williams (19:07):
While the connection between peanuts
and baseball may always reignsupreme peanut products have
become a part of the foodculture in other sports. Before
working at Hampton farms, Jeannewas a brand manager for the
Hershey Company and worked onthe partnership between races,
and NCAA Men's Basketball. Sheshares her experience and gives
us a glimpse at the componentsthat go into sports marketing
(19:30):
and creating a strong authenticproduct connection.
Jeanne Cashman (19:34):
When I was on the Reese's brand it was a long
time ago but it was when thiswhole partnership and promotion
started. So it was back in2008/2009 and my director, I had
two huge projects but one was toreally drive this affinity
between Reese's and NCAA Men'sbasketball and really build the
(19:56):
brand awareness between the two.
So before that didn't reallyexist quite as strongly. So it
was definitely a strategic brandpriority. And I use different
schools and tournaments andsponsored them. I was just like
negotiating them on my own, butI would try to get smaller
tournaments and I tried to bestrategic about what I bought in
(20:19):
the arena so that it wouldappear on TV and show our brand
and the brand was you know,really bold and orange that was
showed up really nicely ondifferent signage in the arena.
So there's all different typesof things. You can buy station
signage, courtside, rotationalunderbelly signage, all
(20:39):
different and just learning whatall those were. And so one of
the first things that happenedwas I got like a two page ad
published in Sports Illustrated,like a two page layout of a
tournament that I had purchased.
And then I was able to convertthat into media dollars pretty
easily. You know, what it wouldcost to have a two page spread
(21:03):
and Sports Illustrated, which Ithink was like $700,000, or
something. But for all thosethat we did standard cups, two
cups, which would be the normalReeses that everybody thinks
about that you buy at the frontend of the grocery store or at a
convenience store. They were up18% versus the prior year. So
(21:23):
all of that really helped. Wegot to do a lot of other fun
things there too, like trying tobecause there's so many aspects
to sports marketing, so there'swhat you do in the arena. So we
we would bring the Reese'smascot and then have free
through shooting contest ahalftime and then the fan.
Whoever won would get a year ofReese's and fans just thought
(21:46):
that was so cool. They thoughtthe Reese's mascot was super
cool. Then also you want tointegrate the Reese Reese's and
the brand experience into TV aswell for everyone because it
arenas great, but there's a lotmore people watching it on TV,
or streaming or something likethat. So we extended the Reeses
(22:08):
perfect campaign into an endgame integration and tried to
make it more authentic andhomegrown. And so during Fox
Sports, they would talk aboutthe perfect play of the game,
you know, towards the end of thegame. And we started that that
year. I think it was 2009 duringthe Pac 10, I guess it's not in
fact Pac 10 anymore, PAC 12tournament. But it really helped
(22:31):
redefine how Reeses could extendinto college sports and into
basketball. So yeah, it was alot of fun actually.
Lauren Highfill Williams (22:40):
Jean says peanut products have a lot
going for them with sportsmarketing, because different
products appeal for differentreasons. For example, peanut
candy might be a hit withbasketball fans because it's fun
and connects with the targetdemographic. In shells might be
a favorite at ballparks becauseof the emotional appeal. And
it's one of the more nutritiousand satisfying food options.
(23:01):
Peanut butter makes sense forsports like soccer and racing
because it's convenient,nutrient dense and tastes great.
Jeanne tells us more.
Jeanne Cashman (23:10):
I think for Reese's, it just made sense
because people just love thatcandy bar and it definitely
resonates with men who are youknow of that age, especially
like that 18 to 26 year old itwas just a really fun fit. And I
think people just I don't evenknow if they were eating Reese's
(23:33):
that much at the game, but Ithink it just made sense when
you're watching basketball andyou're like, oh, yeah, like, I
get why Reese's is sponsoringthis. You know, it's fun. It's
you know, I wouldn't say thatit's healthy by any means. But
it's fits with the athletes andthe people watching the game.
Whereas peanuts I feel like arekind of different with baseball
(23:54):
like definitely eating peanutswhen you're watching a baseball
game like cracking them openlike the experience. No, it just
kind of goes hand in hand likeyou're just like almost
mindlessly cracking them andwhile you're watching baseball,
so I do feel like they're kindof different, but the Reese's
and then, you know, Hamptonfarms peanuts, but I think they
(24:14):
both work with the differentsports that they're associated
with for sure.
Lauren Highfill Williams (24:20):
The Georgia Peanut Commission
markets peanuts beyond baseballas well.
Joy Crosby (24:24):
We've had a variety of promotions with sporting
events that really have rangedfrom baseball, football,
basketball, golf, even truckpools, NASCAR and more. Really,
if you name the sport, thenwe've probably had some type of
promotion with it through theyears. All of our promotions
(24:45):
with the various sports programshave included radio imprint adds
a lot of on site activations,signage within the games and
more. We really love eventswhere we are able to provide
samples Peanuts, and some ofthose own site events where
we've been able to provide thesamples have included the NASCAR
(25:07):
race in Atlanta, the Chick fil Akickoff game, the Peach Bowl, or
even events with Elena Braves.
We've also been very fortunateto be able to coordinate a
variety of peanut butterdonations through peanut proud,
that is distributed to foodbanks. And we've done that with
a variety of partnershipsthrough the years. One of those
(25:28):
was with Trey Young with theAtlanta Hawks. And we've also
most recently conducted a peanutbutter donation to a food bank
in North Carolina, through ourpartnership with NASCAR driver,
Todd Gillean. And this pastyear, we actually coordinated a
year long partnership with theChick fil A College Football
(25:50):
Hall of Fame in Atlanta. And wewere able to have peanut
celebrations in September wherewe celebrated Georgia Peanut
month throughout the month ofSeptember at the Hall of Fame.
And then in March for NationalPeanut math, we're actually have
samples of peanuts that forevery person who visits the Hall
of Fame on the weekend, whenthey exit the Hall of Fame,
(26:12):
they'll receive a sample of ourGA peanuts.
Lauren Highfill Williams (26:17):
Joy believes there's a lot in store
for the future of peanuts andsports marketing. And you never
know when you might hit yourhorse to a team that wins it
all.
Joy Crosby (26:25):
I believe there's a lot of potential in the future
with peanuts and all sports.
Because you just never know whenyou start out a partnership,
whether it's with a baseballteam, or football or even a
NASCAR driver, you never knowhow the season is gonna turn
out. But in the end, regardlessof how the season turns out
whether you win or lose the fanswho are the big supporters of
(26:49):
those programs, they'll see thepeanut messaging at the events
and hopefully that will helpthem to want to take peanuts
along for future snacks at theevent or you know to create some
new peanut inspired recipes ifthey're tailgating or watching
(27:09):
the game at home.
Lindsay Stevens (27:13):
While baseball is America's pastime, the
National Peanut Board isexploring the possibilities of
soccer. NPB has a partnershipwith the largest soccer media
company based in the US calledThe 18. Matt Jenkins is the co
founder and chief strategyofficer of the company. Here's
how Matt got started withmarketing and soccer.
Matt Jenkins (27:32):
Yeah, it was sort of a circuitous path for me. I
guess I actually came at itbecause I was working in
advertising. Just saw theopportunity with the growth of
of soccer. I've always been ahuge sports fan. really active
person myself played all kindsof sports growing up, including
soccer. But really what I guessgot me into it was just seeing
(27:55):
the growth of the audience inthe US and seeing there wasn't
really a media company out therethat was 100% focused on that
audience and my businesspartner, I just thought that
would be a really interestingopportunity to go after so yeah,
we launched we launched The 18and seven years later here we
are.
Lindsay Stevens (28:15):
Well, soccer is a fairly new promotion area for
the National Peanut board makesan appealing target for peanut
marketing. Statistics show thatover the last 10 years, soccer
has become an increasinglypopular sport. In fact, in 2021,
it surpassed hockey becoming thefourth most popular sport in the
US behind football basketball inbaseball. There's also the size
of the audience that makes itappealing. According to a
(28:38):
statement from Fox and sports,citing Nielsen data in 2019.
approximately 14 point 3 millionUS viewers tuned into the final
match on television from 22%From 11 point 4 million in the
2018 Men's World Cup final theyear prior. This jump could be
due to the US playing in thewomen's final while the US men's
team wasn't in the tournament.
Another testament to the growthof the sport is the recent
(29:00):
record breaking number of fanson MLS Games. Atlanta United
Health Record was 72,548 fans.
But recently Charlotte brokethat record with 74,479 fans.
Here's Matt with more.
Matt Jenkins (29:16):
I think it's a few things I mean, I think the first
is just the growth of the sport.
I think also just the sheer sizeof the audience that's there and
and so it's you've got this fastgrowth you've got a pretty
massive audience. So then Ithink maybe the third thing that
makes it great for peanutmarketing in particular is it's
a really active audience and soone in one in three people who
call themselves fans of thesport actually still play. So
(29:38):
obviously not everybody had areal competitive level but you
think about indoor you thinkabout rec league, even just
getting out there on the weekendand playing and it's just
fundamentally different than youknow, like American football.
It's not like a lot of fans arepatting up and taking the field
and playing tackle football. Butin soccer they actually are and
so I think it's a really greatway to reach a pretty active
(30:00):
audience. And then beyond justactually playing soccer, I mean,
these are just people who arepretty active in their lives in
general. So it's a great way toconnect with a passion point
that if you're trying toconnect, you know, to that
audience to the some of the, youknow, kind of benefits of
peanuts in terms of the proteinfuel for active people, I think
(30:20):
it's a great way to do that.
Lindsay Stevens (30:23):
Marketing peanuts in soccer, though, has
to be done in a different waythan other sports.
Matt Jenkins (30:28):
I guess one thing about it, is that unlike other
sports, if you think about whathappens during a game and there
aren't commercial breaks, it'syou know, it you watch a soccer
match, and you're talking 90minutes plus stoppage time and
plus halftime. And, and so theexperience is a fan of watching
(30:49):
is a little bit more fast paced,and, you know, there aren't,
there aren't breaks in theaction, that's, you know, the
first half second half. And so Ithink the way that advertisers
are able to connect to the sportis a little bit different, it's
not as much about necessarilythe you know, commercial breaks
and your 32nd TV spot, I thinkit, it makes maybe advertisers
(31:11):
and brands that want to beinvolved to work a little bit
harder to actually just connectat a real level with fans in a
way that's going to engage themthat isn't about just kind of
putting their brand next to thegame, it's actually trying to
immerse them, like the lifestyleof soccer. And I think maybe
that's the other thing is, itreally is kind of a lifestyle,
especially for younger people,we kind of think about what
we're trying to do is to connectto a lifestyle and a culture and
(31:33):
a cover really a bunch of stuffthat has nothing to do with
what's happening on the field,at the professional level, but
it's about, you know, thefashion of the sports and kind
of the ethos of American fansand how they think about, you
know, day to day, how theyrepresent their, their fandom.
And, you know, getting intoreally interesting areas, like,
you know, food and drink for ushas been sort of interesting,
(31:56):
we've we've really kind ofleaned into that. And we, as an
example, created the series,that's the flavors of football,
which is all about justdifferent recipes, drinks and
food that are inspired by thegame. And so I think that's, I
think that's a little different,right? Like, I'm not sure that
fans of other sports as muchnecessarily think about it as as
a lifestyle. And I think soccerjust kind of has that appeal to
(32:18):
it. And a lot of young peoplesee that and kind of embrace it.
Lindsay Stevens (32:22):
We started our partnership with The 18 last
summer ahead of the biginternational sports competition
in Tokyo. And we called ourfirst campaign together, PB in
Japan, which you can find a linkfor in the show notes. The
success of the campaign speaksfor itself.
Matt Jenkins (32:36):
We had a campaign PB in Japan, which was really
all about connecting with whatwas happening at the Olympics
and what was happening in Japan.
And I think that was reallysuccessful when we, you know, we
had a lot of fun content, whichwas really just trying to go
behind the scenes with someathletes and, and with what was
happening in Japan and, and totell some interesting stories.
(32:57):
And I think that, you know, kindof the stories that came out
during that were just reallyfun. And almost, you know, one
of the one of the things we didwas we had a couple different
players, Weston McKinney andSydney Leroux make their
favorite peanut butter and jellysandwich. So how, you know, you
would think that's pretty basic.
(33:20):
And then it would just be like,well, you know, let's peanut
butter and jelly. But it's notactually the case there is they
got really creative with it. Andit actually brought out their
personality and some really funways. And so it almost became
this, you know, they're makingthe sandwich, but we're learning
a ton about who they are and whothey are off the field in
particular, just kind of their,their personas. And yeah, I
think that was reallysuccessful, just in terms of our
(33:43):
audience seemed to love itreached a ton of people, I
think, you know, 10 or 12million eyeballs, ended up
seeing that, that content andengaging with it. And I just
think it ended up being reallyfun storytelling that people who
maybe had seen thesepersonalities on the field got a
chance to kind of understand whothey are by how they eat peanut
(34:03):
butter, which yes, this is sortof a different way of thinking
about a campaign.
Lindsay Stevens (34:09):
Our current campaign with The 18 is centered
around peanut butter being theofficial sponsor of teamwork.
Here's Matt with more.
Matt Jenkins (34:15):
I think maybe this latest campaign that we're
working on that is is tied intosome of the qualifying matches
that the US is playing and roadto World Cup, we got to sit down
with one of the most legendaryAmerican players of all time,
Landon Donovan, along withJordan Morris, who's a current
(34:36):
member of the squad and I thinkjust the opportunity to talk to
somebody who's been involved inso many iconic moments. As part
of the US game, I mean, scoringthe winning goal, or the Yeah,
the goal that essentially sentthe US on against Algeria in
that world cup and hearing hisperspective on that and then
(34:58):
even you know, More than thathearing about his childhood and
just, you know, kind of gettingto meet somebody and, you know,
really likable relatable guy.
And I think that's there'ssomething fun about that. And I
think the, you know, also kindof hearing what he has the
advice he's got for youngerplayers. And the advice that
Jordan has has been a lot offun. And so yeah, I think
putting, meeting those guys andthen and then putting content
(35:20):
together out of it has been hasbeen great.
Lauren Highfill Williams (35:24):
The future of peanuts and sports
marketing looks bright. WesDrake is hopeful for the future.
Westley Drake (35:30):
I would say that the growing the Virginia type
peanuts, the future looksespecially bright. We're seeing
in my area, the companies likeHampton farms, and their
competitors who do the NCLproducts are making very large
capital gain investment, I meancapital investments towards
(35:55):
expanding their facilities andhiring more people. They say
that the demand for theseproducts is going is continuing
to increase. So that's reallyexciting. I would also say that
Virginia Tech peanuts, inaddition to being the leader in
the in shale products, they'realso the leader in the cocktail
(36:16):
peanuts, which means that I'mdescribing peanuts that come in
like a tin can, that are saltedor flavored other ways. There
are a lot of peanut shops in myarea that have their own family
recipes in many cases, or haveventured into new flavors and
(36:37):
things that consumers areinterested in or demand. And
we're seeing a lot of thesepeanut smaller peanut companies
really blossom and really takeoff with their marketing and
expanding in their businesses aswell. So the Virginia type
peanut, I think has a really,really bright future and we're
excited to see what else as afarmer who produces Virginia
(37:01):
tight Tina, it's I justencourage people to try and if
you've never tried them, grabyour bag. They're available in
most grocery stores, or when yougo to the baseball park. Grab
your bag when the man comes byasking you Do you want anybody
want a bag of peanuts, raiseyour hand and tell him you won't
want.
Lauren Highfill Williams (37:20):
Your head might be spinning with
everything we've shared aboutthe multifaceted world of sports
marketing, and how peanuts fit.
But we hope you've come awaywith more knowledge about the
early days of peanuts andsports, from peanuts and
baseball scorecards tobasketball, NASCAR and soccer.
For the future, we can all beassured that wherever there is
sport, there will be peanuts. SoLindsay, our listeners may not
(37:42):
know that you have a personalconnection to soccer. Can you
tell us about that and what it'sbeen like working on the 18
campaign?
Lindsay Stevens (37:50):
Yeah, so it's been a lot of fun. I grew up as
a big fan of soccer. I rememberwaking up like every Saturday
morning and hearing my dadalready watching the games over
in England. So he was a big EPLfan, so I became one too. It's
been really fun and exciting towork on these campaigns for me.
Like last year, we worked withWeston McKinney and Sydney LaRue
on our pb&j campaign, or a PBNJapan campaign. Sorry. I just
(38:14):
want to say pb&j campaign. Um,because we made peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches with Westonand Sydney. But in case you
don't know them, Cindy was agoalscoring machine for the
women's national team. And she'sone, I think, at least one world
club, definitely the one in2015. And she's also played with
other names like Abby wombat,Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan, who
(38:37):
are all kind of big heavyhitters in the soccer world. But
she's just kind of a big nameoverall. So it was really cool
to like, work with her and seewhat she does, you know, and see
how she makes her peanut buttersandwich. And Weston McKinney
was another one he's younger guyon the men's team, and hopefully
he'll be around for a while. Ithink he's 23 So he's like
literally my age playing on thenational level for sport. So
(38:59):
hopefully he'll be there for aminute and we also saw his way
of making peanut butter andjelly like Matt said it was
really interesting how theirpersonality like personalities
came out during it but um, goingon to kind of talking about our
are more recent campaign. likeMatt said, we worked with Landon
Donovan and Jordan Morris and Ihad to Landon Donovan, like
Jersey growing up like the dayhe got cut from the national
(39:22):
team was one of the mosttraumatic days of my life. So
we've been working on videoswith him, he's a big peanut
butter fan and Jordan Morris isactually diabetic. So peanut
butter is huge for him like heuses it as a major protein. So
it's been a really naturalconnection, which has made
really great content on there'sa couple of articles already
out. And I think by the time thepodcast goes live, at least one
(39:45):
of the videos will be out sowe'll have that linked at the
bottom for y'all to check Alexit's really cool stuff.
Lauren Highfill Williams (39:50):
Yeah, so fun.
Lindsay Stevens (39:52):
Yeah, so Lauren, I was wondering, um,
we've talked a lot about all thedifferent campaigns and stuff
today what has been yourfavorite kind of promotion?
Isn't that peanuts have been in,in the in sports? Oh, that makes
sense. Yeah.
Lauren Highfill Williams (40:07):
Yeah.
That's a good question. Well, Ilove kind of the variety of
everything that we went throughtoday. I think it's been fun to
kind of, you know, explore thehistory of peanuts and baseball
and that long time connection.
something memorable for me was,I think it was a few years ago.
(40:28):
There were some some other nutcompanies that were kind of
trying to unseat the peanuts asthe preferred nut at baseball,
and I think they spent a lot ofmoney trying to make that
happen. And it just hasn'thappened. You can't unseat the
the peanut and baseball. Ithink, as we've explored today,
(40:50):
it's it's kind of here to stay.
But it's been fun and excitingto hear about all of the other,
you know, sports and avenuesthat peanuts are being promoted
in. I think the the soccercampaign I think, is pretty
exciting and memorable for me,just because it's, it's very
different from stuff that we'vedone before. And we're seeing a
(41:12):
lot of success there. I had, youknow, before I had kids, I got
very into soccer and you know,could spend a whole day, you
know, when the World Cup was onjust hanging out and Irish pub
or something with my friendswatching the game getting really
into it. So it's been kind ofcool to be able to have that
(41:35):
memory and that love reawakenedwith with what we're doing over
these past couple of years withThe 18. So that's been fun.
Lindsay Stevens (41:47):
Yeah, for sure.
It's been a lot of it's been alot of very cool stuff. So, um,
but Lauren, going back to, youknow, closing out our episode
and our normal, you know, funfactor choke that we've been
including. I've been thinkingwe've been doing a lot of fun
facts lately. So I'm gonna I'mgonna switch it up kind of
change gears. Okay. And, youknow, tell this joke. So, what
(42:08):
types of socks do you need towear while planting peanuts?
Lauren Highfill Williams (42:17):
I haven't heard this one. I don't
know what kind of socks?
Lindsay Stevens (42:23):
Garden hose.
Thank you. That was not a peanutjoke, but I crammed a peanut
joke within it.
Lauren Highfill Williams (42:33):
There you go. It still works. All
right. That's a good one. Thankyou, everybody, for listening to
us today. I hope you enjoyed ourexploration of peanuts and
sports marketing. Always feelfree to reach out to us and let
us know your thoughts and we'dlove to hear your your favorite
(42:54):
memories of peanuts and based onpeanuts and sports too. So
thanks again for joining us, andwe'll look forward to seeing you
next month for our next episode.
Lindsay Stevens (43:04):
Yeah, thanks for joining our episode. We'll
catch you next month.
The year is 1895 Baseball is the national
pastime and a pioneeringballpark concessioner named
Harry Stevens decides to selladvertising space on scorecards
to a peanut company. The catch,instead of financial payment,
the company pays them inpeanuts, which Stevens then
sells to the ballparks.
According to Bennett Jacobson,author of "The Joy of Ballpark
Food", this was the beginning ofa long history of peanuts in
(00:28):
baseball.
Lauren Highfill Williams (00:31):
But why were peanuts such a hit at
stadiums? According to Stevens'grandson, they've never been
popular at racetracks becausepeople need to keep their hands
free for betting. In baseball,the tension builds slowly.
eating peanuts is part of anervous habit. It gives you
something to do with your hands.
Another common image associatedwith baseball is the peanut
(00:51):
vendor. The peanut vendor datesback to vendors calling,
"peanuts here!" on streetcorners after the Civil War. And
although the phrase didn't beginwith baseball, it's become
synonymous with today'sballparks.
Lindsay Stevens (01:05):
Roger Owens, also known as the peanut man, a
Dodger Stadium is probably thebest known peanut vendor. Owens
gained fame for his trick throwsof peanut bags behind the back
forward pass switch shot up to30 rows away even. But not only
does he have his own ESPNfeature, he has also made an
appearance on The Tonight Show.
Lauren Highfill William (01:24):
Peanuts at the game these days please
both traditionalist andadventurous eaters. It's
reported that pre-COVID betweenfour to 7 million bags of
peanuts were eaten each year atbaseball stadiums.
Lindsay Stevens (01:37):
But perhaps the most iconic image of peanuts and
baseball came to in 1908 withTake Me Out to the Ballgame. Not
only has the song becomesomewhat of an anthem for the
sport, but it's also become agreat way to plug our favorite
products without having to payfor ads.
Lauren Highfill William (01:53):
Welcome to The Peanut Podcast. I'm
Lauren Hghfill Williams.
Lindsay Stevens (01:57):
And I'm Lindsay Stevens.
Lauren Highfill Williams (01:59):
As you probably picked up on, today
we're going to be talking aboutpeanuts and baseball. We'll be
touching on the relationship ofpeanuts and baseball today. How
in-shells are rebounding fromthe pandemic and how other
sports like soccer are makingnew connections with peanuts and
peanut butter. So we covered abrief history of peanuts and
baseball. Now we're going to betalking about peanuts and
(02:22):
baseball today. We sat down withJeanne Cashman, the Director of
Brand Marketing at Hamptonfarms. Jeanne not only is
involved in the baseballmarketing efforts, but she's
also a fan of the sport.
Jeanne Cashman (02:33):
So when I was young, my dad used to take us to
this local team. It was a a farmteam for the Yankees, but we
were in Greensboro at the time,they were called the Hornets.
And we would get peanuts andjust the whole I was so excited
to go and get the ice cream andthe little ball cap and the
(02:54):
seventh inning stretch. I waspretty small though, I was
probably like five or six. Mybrothers were much older. But
yeah, it was definitely a fondmemory on like hot summer
nights. I remember going to thatbaseball stadium in Greensboro
Lauren Highfill William (03:07):
Hampton Farms is the largest supplier of
in-shell peanuts to baseballstadiums. They sell more than
3.7 million bags of ballparkpeanuts every year.
Jeanne Cashman (03:16):
Yes. So I would say for our total in-shell
business is probably about 15%of our business. So we sell a
lot to stadiums, to major leaguestadiums, minor league stadiums,
college stadiums for baseball.
But then the other part of ourbusiness is we have these
branded Major League 12 ouncebags for all the teams except
(03:40):
for Toronto's so the other 31teams, and they're all sold in
major grocery stores andretailers and Walmart. And so a
lot of our business comes fromthat as well. So it's kind of a
nice pairing because you can eatthe peanuts in the stadium and
then we can advertise in theprogram or on the Jumbotron, and
then send people to the retaileras well to buy the branded bags.
Lindsay Stevens (04:06):
Just a few minutes down the road from
Hampton farms headquarters isVirginia peanut farmer Westley
Drake. Wes is a 14th generationfarmer. Here's a little about
him and why he went intofarming.
Westley Drake (04:17):
Being a 14th generation farmer has everything
to do with why I had anopportunity to farm but it has
nothing to do with the reasonthat I chose to farm. The reason
that I chose to farm is becauseI developed a passion and a love
of agriculture at a young age,and I see so much promise and
(04:42):
just an exciting future in thisindustry. I genuinely love what
I do when I'm working on thefarm day in and day out. And I
love that I get to work with myfamily. And so you know, I I
feel like people might say,well, you're a 14th generation
farmer that means your parentsmust have made you, you know,
(05:03):
you must feel like you have tobe there. But every day that I
work here is a choice. You know,and I would choose, I chose
farming when I got out ofcollege, and I choose that every
day because this is what I loveto do.
Lindsay Stevens (05:18):
As you may know, we have different types of
peanuts as a result of years ofboth wild and selective
breeding. Peanuts grown acrossthe South in southeastern US
have different characteristicsand uses. The most popular type
of peanuts for ballparks is theVirginia peanut. Considered the
gourmet peanut type, Virginiapeanuts have large kernels.
Because of their large size andpremium characteristics, this
(05:40):
variety is best suited forsnacking instead of in peanut
butter. Wes exclusively growsVirginia type peanuts on his
farm.
Westley Drake (05:47):
Virginia peanuts, for those who may not know are
the largest of the four markettypes that are grown in
Virginia. I mean, grown in theUnited States, also in Virginia,
got a little tongue tied there.
But so they are the mostdesirable because of their
taste, their flavor, the waythey look, they have pretty
white hulls. And Hampton Farmsis the largest processor of
(06:09):
these Virginia type peanuts thatare in the shell that you
typically see at baseball games.
And they are located about Iwill say about 10 miles or so
from my house. And they have a,that's where they're based at
they also have processing plantsand other places around the
country. But that's where theirhome facility is. They have a
(06:31):
large interest in the Virginiatype peanuts in this area. And
most of the peanuts that aregrown in this area go into that
in-shell market.
Lindsay Stevens (06:40):
For Wes, the connection between peanuts and
baseball is obvious.
Westley Drake (06:44):
Well, peanuts and baseball go hand in hand. I grew
up in a small rural town, andplayed baseball as a child and
then later decided it wasn't mything. So I gained regained
interest in the sport later inmy life, and more recently
become kind of kind of abaseball fan again. But one
(07:05):
thing that's been the samethroughout my whole entire life
was from a kid all the way up tonow, whenever I go to a baseball
park, you always see Peanuts,peanuts, or they're fun to eat
when you're when you'reoutdoors. Or you can just you
can sit there and you can showthe peanuts and throw the shales
on the ground. There's somesatisfaction to make while
(07:26):
you're sitting in the state. Butthey just have wonderful, and
it's kind of this. I almost saylike a nostalgic feeling that
you're just kind of meant to eatpeanuts at these outdoor
sporting events. I mean, it justgoes so well with a soft drink.
And you can sit there and snackon them at your own pace. But if
(07:48):
you're like me, you go throughyour bag kind of fast. And then
you're then you're wantinganother one, you know.
Lauren Highfill Williams (07:56):
The thrill of the baseball stadium
experience was silenced in 2020when the pandemic hit and closed
ballparks and sports venuesacross the country. With no fans
in the stands to sell in-shellsto, there was an initial fear
that in-shell sales wouldplummet. But what really
happened may surprise you.
Here's Jeanne on what Hamptonfarms experienced over the
(08:16):
course of the past couple ofyears.
Jeanne Cashman (08:21):
During the pandemic, actually our total in
Shell business was up 15% overprior year. So for the pandemic,
you know, people were just usingpeanuts in other ways. We did
see that unsalted or justroasted were up even more than
salted, which I thought was kindof interesting, because usually
(08:43):
that's kind of regional, youknow, roasted unsalted peanuts,
more in the northeast and outwest. But we saw growth across
the nation on unsalted. So Ithought that was an interesting
fact. But even though ourstadium sales were off, you
know, especially in 2020,because it really ended
abruptly, right, like, right inspring training, march 12. It
(09:06):
was over, it really didn't comeback until the end of July like
July 23. And even at that time,it was just 60 games. And you
know, no attendance basically.
So we really had to work more onthe retail side of the business
that I talked about earlier withthe 12 ounce bags that we have
that are brand new with all thedifferent teams set but 2020 was
challenging for us for MajorLeague Baseball sales, for sure.
(09:30):
2021 It got better, for sure.
Because, you know, the seasonwas kind of back attendance was
not all the way there. But westarted to have in stadium sales
plus a retail business on the 12ounce bags did much much better
in 2021.
Lauren Highfill Williams (09:50):
Some of these trends from the
pandemic have continued.
Jeanne Cashman (09:55):
I think it's probably two things or it could
be more than that. But the twothat we were able to identify
was one just people deem youknow, unsalted peanuts a little
bit healthier. There was a lotof snacking during the pandemic,
at the beginning in 2020. Butthen, after it went on eight
months or so then people werelike, wow, I need to start
(10:17):
eating a little bit healthier.
So from some of the researchthat we've seen, people did
change their dietary habits alittle bit into the pandemic. At
first, we just kind of werehunkered down and under comfort
mode and kind of eating forcomfort and watching a lot of
Netflix and that sort of thing.
And then people were like, Oh,this is going to be around a
while so they kind of changetheir eating habits a bit. But I
(10:38):
also think that maybe there wassome wildlife being fed with the
unsalted as well, just from someof the research I've seen. Yeah,
squirrels and birds, that sortof thing.
Lindsay Stevens (10:49):
Like Jean said earlier, the baseball connection
is still there for peanuts, butthere are new ways the industry
is showing up for the sport.
Some of this was influenced byCOVID, but others have sprung
from wanting to connect theiraudience to how the snack is
produced. Some things NPB hasdone over the years includes our
support for in-shell salesduring the pandemic, with a TV
commercial encouraging fans toenjoy peanuts as a snack or
(11:10):
watching the game at home.
Commercial Clip (11:20):
If you can't get to a ballpark, ballpark, do
you because no matter where youare,
Lindsay Stevens (11:26):
NPB also has a whole online personality called
Peanuts Here! on Instagram andTwitter to toss peanuts into
social media conversations likea modern day peanut vendor. On a
state level, the Virginia PeanutGrowers Association supports
baseball by having their farmerspass out packs of peanuts at a
local minor league game.
Westley Drake (11:45):
One of the coolest things that I think
about when I think about peanutsin baseball is the Virginia
peanut Growers Association ofwhich I'm a member of, we have a
event every summer at a baseballpark in Richmond, Virginia. It's
a minor league team called theRichmond Squirrels. And the it's
(12:05):
interesting that the squirrelshave a peanut night, but they
do. So it goes it goes togetherreally well. And what we do at
that event is we allow the thepeanut farmers from the Virginia
peanut grower association to goup to the baseball park and
interact with fans. As they comein to the baseball park, we're
there to greet them. We givethem free peanut samples, and
(12:25):
we're there to interact withthem and tell them more about
peanuts because they'reobviously very interested in
what we're doing. And like yousaid, it's a very fitting event
because peanuts in baseball gohand in hand so that whenever I
think about the two, I reallyenjoy going to that game every
year and interacting with fansand being a peanut farmer there
(12:46):
and handing out free peanutsamples.
Lindsay Stevens (12:48):
Hampton Farms is feeling positive about the
future for in-shells and hasmany programs that support the
connection between peanuts andbaseball from MLB box mailings
for retail buyers to apartnership with an Instagram
account that highlights culinarycreations by major league shops.
Jeanne Cashman (13:02):
We're working on all of our marketing activations
as well with retailers and someinfluencer programs, which I
think will be really strong.
Currently, we're sending outabout 75 Major League Baseball
boxes to all of our buyers atthe major retailers just promote
our major league bags andprovide facts and you know, just
(13:22):
get them excited about theseason like its back type of
thing. So yes, we're feelinggood about about the intial
market for this year. But inparticularl for Major League
Baseball, we had the boxes madeexactly like the boxes that you
would find at retail. And theninside it we put the buyers
(13:44):
favorite team the bags, and wedid the kind of charcuterie
board theme with wooden baseballcharcuterie boards, and then
recipes inside so kind of fun.
But um, other promotions we'vedone so obviously, retail
display contests are very bigfor us, especially out west and
(14:05):
in the northeast, our retailersget really behind it and in our
merchandisers and our buyers, sothat's a fun one. We, we pair
very well obviously with beerpartners. So we've partnered
with Corona and we've hadBudweiser partnerships, displays
and coupons and we've had thosein the past and we have those
this year as well. So that'salso a good one. Um, some other
(14:29):
things we've done like hot playof the week for Little League,
because little league is big anda lot of the teams are named
after the major league team. Sowe try to work with little
league teams to to kind of getsome excitement at different
ages. What else we could havedone Oh, we've partnered with
Major League chefs, an Instagramaccount and we do a lot of fan
(14:53):
packs and giveaways and recipeswith them. We've also worked
with Umps Care charity. Theywere founded by umpires and they
provide financial and emotionalsupport for America's youth and
families that are in need.
Lindsay Stevens (15:10):
The Georgia Peanut Commission is located in
the heart of Braves country, soit's no surprise that they have
embraced the peanuts in baseballconnection for many years. Joy
Crosby is the assistantexecutive director of the
Georgia Peanut Commission andhas fond memories of baseball
that crossover into her roletoday.
Joy Crosby (15:27):
Well as as long as I can remember, I've been a Braves
fan. And I even remember as asmall child, having Dale
Murphy's baseball card. And justthrough the years, I've been
very fortunate with my job atthe Peanut Commission that I
have been able to go to avariety of sporting events,
helping promote peanuts, and alot of them have offered really
(15:51):
a lot of fun opportunities withmeeting some of the athletes and
just, you know, meeting theconsumers and hearing their
stories of why they lovepeanuts. But today, you know, as
a mom, I have a son who'sstarting to play Little League
baseball. And so I just knowthat in my future, I see a lot
(16:12):
of baseball games, where I'll betaking peanuts snacks for my son
and his teammates to enjoy,especially right after the game
to help refuel them and get themready for the next day.
Lindsay Stevens (16:24):
From enjoying sharing peanuts with her son's
teammates to promoting peanutsin the major leagues Joy and GPC
have done a lot of work withpeanuts and baseball.
Joy Crosby (16:33):
Yes, the Georgia Peanut Commission has done a
variety of programs with theBraves since around 2015.
Initially, our partnershipincluded radio spots through the
Braves radio network with 680the fan. But it's really through
the years has grown to includeso much more. We've added social
(16:53):
media components, digital bannerads, as well as in game exposure
projects. And even on siteevents prior to the games. This
past August, we were actuallyable to team up with the Braves
at one of their kids club runevents. And during this event,
we were able to pass out copiesof our new book a home run for
(17:15):
peanuts. And we're able to givepeople samples of our peanuts as
well as educational materialsand really visit with the
families who were there that hadsmall children and educate them
on some of the nutritionalbenefits of eating peanuts and
peanut butter. Also, the eventincluded our logo throughout the
(17:37):
game. And so we were on the LEDboards in Truist Park. And we're
really excited for our nextevent with the Braves, which
will be Memorial Day weekend fortheir school's out event.
Lindsay Stevens (17:53):
When planning successful and effective
promotions, Joy has a lot toconsider.
Joy Crosby (17:58):
Well for any of our sporting event promotions, we
really like to includepromotions that have a broad
spectrum of ways to reach thefans. And that can include
everything from advertising,whether it's through radio,
television, or print ads in thegames, program booklets, or in
(18:19):
game digital components or eventhe same plant opportunities.
But really, we, you know, wereally love to see the fan
engagement, especially whenwe're at events where the fans
actually come up to us to getthe sample. And they tell us
stories about how much they loveeating Georgia peanuts or you
(18:39):
know how you know our new recipethey have using peanuts or
peanut butter. So really thatfan engagement is what makes it
successful for us. And it reallywith all the variety of sporting
programs that we sponsor, itreally gives us an avenue to
reach a variety of age ranges,and a variety of people that are
(19:01):
interested in different sportingevents.
Lauren Highfill Williams (19:07):
While the connection between peanuts
and baseball may always reignsupreme peanut products have
become a part of the foodculture in other sports. Before
working at Hampton farms, Jeannewas a brand manager for the
Hershey Company and worked onthe partnership between races,
and NCAA Men's Basketball. Sheshares her experience and gives
us a glimpse at the componentsthat go into sports marketing
(19:30):
and creating a strong authenticproduct connection.
Jeanne Cashman (19:34):
When I was on the Reese's brand it was a long
time ago but it was when thiswhole partnership and promotion
started. So it was back in2008/2009 and my director, I had
two huge projects but one was toreally drive this affinity
between Reese's and NCAA Men'sbasketball and really build the
(19:56):
brand awareness between the two.
So before that didn't reallyexist quite as strongly. So it
was definitely a strategic brandpriority. And I use different
schools and tournaments andsponsored them. I was just like
negotiating them on my own, butI would try to get smaller
tournaments and I tried to bestrategic about what I bought in
(20:19):
the arena so that it wouldappear on TV and show our brand
and the brand was you know,really bold and orange that was
showed up really nicely ondifferent signage in the arena.
So there's all different typesof things. You can buy station
signage, courtside, rotationalunderbelly signage, all
(20:39):
different and just learning whatall those were. And so one of
the first things that happenedwas I got like a two page ad
published in Sports Illustrated,like a two page layout of a
tournament that I had purchased.
And then I was able to convertthat into media dollars pretty
easily. You know, what it wouldcost to have a two page spread
(21:03):
and Sports Illustrated, which Ithink was like $700,000, or
something. But for all thosethat we did standard cups, two
cups, which would be the normalReeses that everybody thinks
about that you buy at the frontend of the grocery store or at a
convenience store. They were up18% versus the prior year. So
(21:23):
all of that really helped. Wegot to do a lot of other fun
things there too, like trying tobecause there's so many aspects
to sports marketing, so there'swhat you do in the arena. So we
we would bring the Reese'smascot and then have free
through shooting contest ahalftime and then the fan.
Whoever won would get a year ofReese's and fans just thought
(21:46):
that was so cool. They thoughtthe Reese's mascot was super
cool. Then also you want tointegrate the Reese Reese's and
the brand experience into TV aswell for everyone because it
arenas great, but there's a lotmore people watching it on TV,
or streaming or something likethat. So we extended the Reeses
(22:08):
perfect campaign into an endgame integration and tried to
make it more authentic andhomegrown. And so during Fox
Sports, they would talk aboutthe perfect play of the game,
you know, towards the end of thegame. And we started that that
year. I think it was 2009 duringthe Pac 10, I guess it's not in
fact Pac 10 anymore, PAC 12tournament. But it really helped
(22:31):
redefine how Reeses could extendinto college sports and into
basketball. So yeah, it was alot of fun actually.
Lauren Highfill Williams (22:40):
Jean says peanut products have a lot
going for them with sportsmarketing, because different
products appeal for differentreasons. For example, peanut
candy might be a hit withbasketball fans because it's fun
and connects with the targetdemographic. In shells might be
a favorite at ballparks becauseof the emotional appeal. And
it's one of the more nutritiousand satisfying food options.
(23:01):
Peanut butter makes sense forsports like soccer and racing
because it's convenient,nutrient dense and tastes great.
Jeanne tells us more.
Jeanne Cashman (23:10):
I think for Reese's, it just made sense
because people just love thatcandy bar and it definitely
resonates with men who are youknow of that age, especially
like that 18 to 26 year old itwas just a really fun fit. And I
think people just I don't evenknow if they were eating Reese's
(23:33):
that much at the game, but Ithink it just made sense when
you're watching basketball andyou're like, oh, yeah, like, I
get why Reese's is sponsoringthis. You know, it's fun. It's
you know, I wouldn't say thatit's healthy by any means. But
it's fits with the athletes andthe people watching the game.
Whereas peanuts I feel like arekind of different with baseball
(23:54):
like definitely eating peanutswhen you're watching a baseball
game like cracking them openlike the experience. No, it just
kind of goes hand in hand likeyou're just like almost
mindlessly cracking them andwhile you're watching baseball,
so I do feel like they're kindof different, but the Reese's
and then, you know, Hamptonfarms peanuts, but I think they
(24:14):
both work with the differentsports that they're associated
with for sure.
Lauren Highfill Williams (24:20):
The Georgia Peanut Commission
markets peanuts beyond baseballas well.
Joy Crosby (24:24):
We've had a variety of promotions with sporting
events that really have rangedfrom baseball, football,
basketball, golf, even truckpools, NASCAR and more. Really,
if you name the sport, thenwe've probably had some type of
promotion with it through theyears. All of our promotions
(24:45):
with the various sports programshave included radio imprint adds
a lot of on site activations,signage within the games and
more. We really love eventswhere we are able to provide
samples Peanuts, and some ofthose own site events where
we've been able to provide thesamples have included the NASCAR
(25:07):
race in Atlanta, the Chick fil Akickoff game, the Peach Bowl, or
even events with Elena Braves.
We've also been very fortunateto be able to coordinate a
variety of peanut butterdonations through peanut proud,
that is distributed to foodbanks. And we've done that with
a variety of partnershipsthrough the years. One of those
(25:28):
was with Trey Young with theAtlanta Hawks. And we've also
most recently conducted a peanutbutter donation to a food bank
in North Carolina, through ourpartnership with NASCAR driver,
Todd Gillean. And this pastyear, we actually coordinated a
year long partnership with theChick fil A College Football
(25:50):
Hall of Fame in Atlanta. And wewere able to have peanut
celebrations in September wherewe celebrated Georgia Peanut
month throughout the month ofSeptember at the Hall of Fame.
And then in March for NationalPeanut math, we're actually have
samples of peanuts that forevery person who visits the Hall
of Fame on the weekend, whenthey exit the Hall of Fame,
(26:12):
they'll receive a sample of ourGA peanuts.
Lauren Highfill Williams (26:17):
Joy believes there's a lot in store
for the future of peanuts andsports marketing. And you never
know when you might hit yourhorse to a team that wins it
all.
Joy Crosby (26:25):
I believe there's a lot of potential in the future
with peanuts and all sports.
Because you just never know whenyou start out a partnership,
whether it's with a baseballteam, or football or even a
NASCAR driver, you never knowhow the season is gonna turn
out. But in the end, regardlessof how the season turns out
whether you win or lose the fanswho are the big supporters of
(26:49):
those programs, they'll see thepeanut messaging at the events
and hopefully that will helpthem to want to take peanuts
along for future snacks at theevent or you know to create some
new peanut inspired recipes ifthey're tailgating or watching
(27:09):
the game at home.
Lindsay Stevens (27:13):
While baseball is America's pastime, the
National Peanut Board isexploring the possibilities of
soccer. NPB has a partnershipwith the largest soccer media
company based in the US calledThe 18. Matt Jenkins is the co
founder and chief strategyofficer of the company. Here's
how Matt got started withmarketing and soccer.
Matt Jenkins (27:32):
Yeah, it was sort of a circuitous path for me. I
guess I actually came at itbecause I was working in
advertising. Just saw theopportunity with the growth of
of soccer. I've always been ahuge sports fan. really active
person myself played all kindsof sports growing up, including
soccer. But really what I guessgot me into it was just seeing
(27:55):
the growth of the audience inthe US and seeing there wasn't
really a media company out therethat was 100% focused on that
audience and my businesspartner, I just thought that
would be a really interestingopportunity to go after so yeah,
we launched we launched The 18and seven years later here we
are.
Lindsay Stevens (28:15):
Well, soccer is a fairly new promotion area for
the National Peanut board makesan appealing target for peanut
marketing. Statistics show thatover the last 10 years, soccer
has become an increasinglypopular sport. In fact, in 2021,
it surpassed hockey becoming thefourth most popular sport in the
US behind football basketball inbaseball. There's also the size
of the audience that makes itappealing. According to a
(28:38):
statement from Fox and sports,citing Nielsen data in 2019.
approximately 14 point 3 millionUS viewers tuned into the final
match on television from 22%From 11 point 4 million in the
2018 Men's World Cup final theyear prior. This jump could be
due to the US playing in thewomen's final while the US men's
team wasn't in the tournament.
Another testament to the growthof the sport is the recent
(29:00):
record breaking number of fanson MLS Games. Atlanta United
Health Record was 72,548 fans.
But recently Charlotte brokethat record with 74,479 fans.
Here's Matt with more.
Matt Jenkins (29:16):
I think it's a few things I mean, I think the first
is just the growth of the sport.
I think also just the sheer sizeof the audience that's there and
and so it's you've got this fastgrowth you've got a pretty
massive audience. So then Ithink maybe the third thing that
makes it great for peanutmarketing in particular is it's
a really active audience and soone in one in three people who
call themselves fans of thesport actually still play. So
(29:38):
obviously not everybody had areal competitive level but you
think about indoor you thinkabout rec league, even just
getting out there on the weekendand playing and it's just
fundamentally different than youknow, like American football.
It's not like a lot of fans arepatting up and taking the field
and playing tackle football. Butin soccer they actually are and
so I think it's a really greatway to reach a pretty active
(30:00):
audience. And then beyond justactually playing soccer, I mean,
these are just people who arepretty active in their lives in
general. So it's a great way toconnect with a passion point
that if you're trying toconnect, you know, to that
audience to the some of the, youknow, kind of benefits of
peanuts in terms of the proteinfuel for active people, I think
(30:20):
it's a great way to do that.
Lindsay Stevens (30:23):
Marketing peanuts in soccer, though, has
to be done in a different waythan other sports.
Matt Jenkins (30:28):
I guess one thing about it, is that unlike other
sports, if you think about whathappens during a game and there
aren't commercial breaks, it'syou know, it you watch a soccer
match, and you're talking 90minutes plus stoppage time and
plus halftime. And, and so theexperience is a fan of watching
(30:49):
is a little bit more fast paced,and, you know, there aren't,
there aren't breaks in theaction, that's, you know, the
first half second half. And so Ithink the way that advertisers
are able to connect to the sportis a little bit different, it's
not as much about necessarilythe you know, commercial breaks
and your 32nd TV spot, I thinkit, it makes maybe advertisers
(31:11):
and brands that want to beinvolved to work a little bit
harder to actually just connectat a real level with fans in a
way that's going to engage themthat isn't about just kind of
putting their brand next to thegame, it's actually trying to
immerse them, like the lifestyleof soccer. And I think maybe
that's the other thing is, itreally is kind of a lifestyle,
especially for younger people,we kind of think about what
we're trying to do is to connectto a lifestyle and a culture and
(31:33):
a cover really a bunch of stuffthat has nothing to do with
what's happening on the field,at the professional level, but
it's about, you know, thefashion of the sports and kind
of the ethos of American fansand how they think about, you
know, day to day, how theyrepresent their, their fandom.
And, you know, getting intoreally interesting areas, like,
you know, food and drink for ushas been sort of interesting,
(31:56):
we've we've really kind ofleaned into that. And we, as an
example, created the series,that's the flavors of football,
which is all about justdifferent recipes, drinks and
food that are inspired by thegame. And so I think that's, I
think that's a little different,right? Like, I'm not sure that
fans of other sports as muchnecessarily think about it as as
a lifestyle. And I think soccerjust kind of has that appeal to
(32:18):
it. And a lot of young peoplesee that and kind of embrace it.
Lindsay Stevens (32:22):
We started our partnership with The 18 last
summer ahead of the biginternational sports competition
in Tokyo. And we called ourfirst campaign together, PB in
Japan, which you can find a linkfor in the show notes. The
success of the campaign speaksfor itself.
Matt Jenkins (32:36):
We had a campaign PB in Japan, which was really
all about connecting with whatwas happening at the Olympics
and what was happening in Japan.
And I think that was reallysuccessful when we, you know, we
had a lot of fun content, whichwas really just trying to go
behind the scenes with someathletes and, and with what was
happening in Japan and, and totell some interesting stories.
(32:57):
And I think that, you know, kindof the stories that came out
during that were just reallyfun. And almost, you know, one
of the one of the things we didwas we had a couple different
players, Weston McKinney andSydney Leroux make their
favorite peanut butter and jellysandwich. So how, you know, you
would think that's pretty basic.
(33:20):
And then it would just be like,well, you know, let's peanut
butter and jelly. But it's notactually the case there is they
got really creative with it. Andit actually brought out their
personality and some really funways. And so it almost became
this, you know, they're makingthe sandwich, but we're learning
a ton about who they are and whothey are off the field in
particular, just kind of their,their personas. And yeah, I
think that was reallysuccessful, just in terms of our
(33:43):
audience seemed to love itreached a ton of people, I
think, you know, 10 or 12million eyeballs, ended up
seeing that, that content andengaging with it. And I just
think it ended up being reallyfun storytelling that people who
maybe had seen thesepersonalities on the field got a
chance to kind of understand whothey are by how they eat peanut
(34:03):
butter, which yes, this is sortof a different way of thinking
about a campaign.
Lindsay Stevens (34:09):
Our current campaign with The 18 is centered
around peanut butter being theofficial sponsor of teamwork.
Here's Matt with more.
Matt Jenkins (34:15):
I think maybe this latest campaign that we're
working on that is is tied intosome of the qualifying matches
that the US is playing and roadto World Cup, we got to sit down
with one of the most legendaryAmerican players of all time,
Landon Donovan, along withJordan Morris, who's a current
(34:36):
member of the squad and I thinkjust the opportunity to talk to
somebody who's been involved inso many iconic moments. As part
of the US game, I mean, scoringthe winning goal, or the Yeah,
the goal that essentially sentthe US on against Algeria in
that world cup and hearing hisperspective on that and then
(34:58):
even you know, More than thathearing about his childhood and
just, you know, kind of gettingto meet somebody and, you know,
really likable relatable guy.
And I think that's there'ssomething fun about that. And I
think the, you know, also kindof hearing what he has the
advice he's got for youngerplayers. And the advice that
Jordan has has been a lot offun. And so yeah, I think
putting, meeting those guys andthen and then putting content
(35:20):
together out of it has been hasbeen great.
Lauren Highfill Williams (35:24):
The future of peanuts and sports
marketing looks bright. WesDrake is hopeful for the future.
Westley Drake (35:30):
I would say that the growing the Virginia type
peanuts, the future looksespecially bright. We're seeing
in my area, the companies likeHampton farms, and their
competitors who do the NCLproducts are making very large
capital gain investment, I meancapital investments towards
(35:55):
expanding their facilities andhiring more people. They say
that the demand for theseproducts is going is continuing
to increase. So that's reallyexciting. I would also say that
Virginia Tech peanuts, inaddition to being the leader in
the in shale products, they'realso the leader in the cocktail
(36:16):
peanuts, which means that I'mdescribing peanuts that come in
like a tin can, that are saltedor flavored other ways. There
are a lot of peanut shops in myarea that have their own family
recipes in many cases, or haveventured into new flavors and
(36:37):
things that consumers areinterested in or demand. And
we're seeing a lot of thesepeanut smaller peanut companies
really blossom and really takeoff with their marketing and
expanding in their businesses aswell. So the Virginia type
peanut, I think has a really,really bright future and we're
excited to see what else as afarmer who produces Virginia
(37:01):
tight Tina, it's I justencourage people to try and if
you've never tried them, grabyour bag. They're available in
most grocery stores, or when yougo to the baseball park. Grab
your bag when the man comes byasking you Do you want anybody
want a bag of peanuts, raiseyour hand and tell him you won't
want.
Lauren Highfill Williams (37:20):
Your head might be spinning with
everything we've shared aboutthe multifaceted world of sports
marketing, and how peanuts fit.
But we hope you've come awaywith more knowledge about the
early days of peanuts andsports, from peanuts and
baseball scorecards tobasketball, NASCAR and soccer.
For the future, we can all beassured that wherever there is
sport, there will be peanuts. SoLindsay, our listeners may not
(37:42):
know that you have a personalconnection to soccer. Can you
tell us about that and what it'sbeen like working on the 18
campaign?
Lindsay Stevens (37:50):
Yeah, so it's been a lot of fun. I grew up as
a big fan of soccer. I rememberwaking up like every Saturday
morning and hearing my dadalready watching the games over
in England. So he was a big EPLfan, so I became one too. It's
been really fun and exciting towork on these campaigns for me.
Like last year, we worked withWeston McKinney and Sydney LaRue
on our pb&j campaign, or a PBNJapan campaign. Sorry. I just
(38:14):
want to say pb&j campaign. Um,because we made peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches with Westonand Sydney. But in case you
don't know them, Cindy was agoalscoring machine for the
women's national team. And she'sone, I think, at least one world
club, definitely the one in2015. And she's also played with
other names like Abby wombat,Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan, who
(38:37):
are all kind of big heavyhitters in the soccer world. But
she's just kind of a big nameoverall. So it was really cool
to like, work with her and seewhat she does, you know, and see
how she makes her peanut buttersandwich. And Weston McKinney
was another one he's younger guyon the men's team, and hopefully
he'll be around for a while. Ithink he's 23 So he's like
literally my age playing on thenational level for sport. So
(38:59):
hopefully he'll be there for aminute and we also saw his way
of making peanut butter andjelly like Matt said it was
really interesting how theirpersonality like personalities
came out during it but um, goingon to kind of talking about our
are more recent campaign. likeMatt said, we worked with Landon
Donovan and Jordan Morris and Ihad to Landon Donovan, like
Jersey growing up like the dayhe got cut from the national
(39:22):
team was one of the mosttraumatic days of my life. So
we've been working on videoswith him, he's a big peanut
butter fan and Jordan Morris isactually diabetic. So peanut
butter is huge for him like heuses it as a major protein. So
it's been a really naturalconnection, which has made
really great content on there'sa couple of articles already
out. And I think by the time thepodcast goes live, at least one
(39:45):
of the videos will be out sowe'll have that linked at the
bottom for y'all to check Alexit's really cool stuff.
Lauren Highfill Williams (39:50):
Yeah, so fun.
Lindsay Stevens (39:52):
Yeah, so Lauren, I was wondering, um,
we've talked a lot about all thedifferent campaigns and stuff
today what has been yourfavorite kind of promotion?
Isn't that peanuts have been in,in the in sports? Oh, that makes
sense. Yeah.
Lauren Highfill Williams (40:07):
Yeah.
That's a good question. Well, Ilove kind of the variety of
everything that we went throughtoday. I think it's been fun to
kind of, you know, explore thehistory of peanuts and baseball
and that long time connection.
something memorable for me was,I think it was a few years ago.
(40:28):
There were some some other nutcompanies that were kind of
trying to unseat the peanuts asthe preferred nut at baseball,
and I think they spent a lot ofmoney trying to make that
happen. And it just hasn'thappened. You can't unseat the
the peanut and baseball. Ithink, as we've explored today,
(40:50):
it's it's kind of here to stay.
But it's been fun and excitingto hear about all of the other,
you know, sports and avenuesthat peanuts are being promoted
in. I think the the soccercampaign I think, is pretty
exciting and memorable for me,just because it's, it's very
different from stuff that we'vedone before. And we're seeing a
(41:12):
lot of success there. I had, youknow, before I had kids, I got
very into soccer and you know,could spend a whole day, you
know, when the World Cup was onjust hanging out and Irish pub
or something with my friendswatching the game getting really
into it. So it's been kind ofcool to be able to have that
(41:35):
memory and that love reawakenedwith with what we're doing over
these past couple of years withThe 18. So that's been fun.
Lindsay Stevens (41:47):
Yeah, for sure.
It's been a lot of it's been alot of very cool stuff. So, um,
but Lauren, going back to, youknow, closing out our episode
and our normal, you know, funfactor choke that we've been
including. I've been thinkingwe've been doing a lot of fun
facts lately. So I'm gonna I'mgonna switch it up kind of
change gears. Okay. And, youknow, tell this joke. So, what
(42:08):
types of socks do you need towear while planting peanuts?
Lauren Highfill Williams (42:17):
I haven't heard this one. I don't
know what kind of socks?
Lindsay Stevens (42:23):
Garden hose.
Thank you. That was not a peanutjoke, but I crammed a peanut
joke within it.
Lauren Highfill Williams (42:33):
There you go. It still works. All
right. That's a good one. Thankyou, everybody, for listening to
us today. I hope you enjoyed ourexploration of peanuts and
sports marketing. Always feelfree to reach out to us and let
us know your thoughts and we'dlove to hear your your favorite
(42:54):
memories of peanuts and based onpeanuts and sports too. So
thanks again for joining us, andwe'll look forward to seeing you
next month for our next episode.
Lindsay Stevens (43:04):
Yeah, thanks for joining our episode. We'll
catch you next month.
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