• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, June 27, 2011

It wouldn't be a stretch to call Chiquita a vibrant consumer brand. Seeking extra wattage, however, the company recently partnered with the animated movie "Rio" for a multichannel ad campaign.

The effort, which ran from March 23 through May 8 -- before the animated film was released -- aimed at driving consumer engagement with a Chiquita-branded microsite. It promoted both "Rio" and Chiquita through interactive games and activities, videos, healthy recipes, and a sweepstakes.

Working closely with Chiquita, media agency Gotham Direct created the multichannel media strategy, which sought to leverage the Chiquita-"Rio" partnership via rich media banner units, cross-channel promotions, on-air radio endorsements, broadcast and cable tv ads and print and in-theater ads.

All were designed to drive traffic to and engage with the microsite.

"We wanted a smart yet engaging media campaign around the Chiquita Rio Web site that could provide trackable, measurable results for our brand," aid Craig Stephen, vice president North American Bananas and Fresh Select. To reach the target audience -- parents and their children -- Gotham Direct targeted top online parenting sites, including Disney and Kaboose and various high-profile video sites, like Hulu and YouTube, as well as popular social-media venues and traditional media.

In addition, special "Rio"-themed stickers on Chiquita bananas were created and placed on millions of bananas to generate awareness.

Within two weeks of the media campaign's launch, targeted traffic and engagement levels on the Chiquita.com Web site skyrocketed. Traffic was more than 15 times what the site had experienced during that same period the prior year -- or the amount of traffic the site received for the entire six months prior to the "Rio" campaign.

What's more, within six weeks the media campaign had generated over 400 million impressions and over half a million unique visits to the microsite -- exceeding the client's expectations.

"This is a true success story, about how an established brand such as Chiquita can successfully create a full-on integrated branded partnership with a movie ... and create a highly successful media campaign to promote that partnership," said Shattuck Groome, partner, Gotham Direct.

Founded in 2002, Gotham Direct, is a privately held media planning, buying and analytics agency with offices in New York and London.

Additional clients include 1800 Tequila, Hotwire.com, JPMorgan Chase, Gore-Tex and New York University.