Cargill stevia plant-based natural sweetener brand Truvia appointed Carmichael Lynch and sibling agency Spong PR as its integrated AORs in the U.S. following a review, AdAge reports.
Carmichael Lynch will serve as creative and strategic agency of record, while Spong PR will handle PR, influencer engagement and media relations, and both agencies will collaborate on digital and social content.
“We really liked the fact they are both outstanding agencies and they’re under one roof, so they’re constantly aligned strategically and we’re already starting to feel the advantages and synergy,” Truvia global marketing leader A.J. Aumock told AdAge, adding, “it’s hard to know where one ends and the other begins.”
Publicis-owned, Minneapolis-based agency Fallon has worked on advertising for Truvia in the past, while UM has handled media buying and planning and RF|Binder has been responsible for health professional communications.
According to Kantar Media, Truvia spent $5.8 million on measured media in 2014, but that figure could rise considerably in the coming years as the natural sweetener market expands. Recent research from AC Nielsen found that while the sugar substitute category in the U.S declined between 3% and 4%, year-over-year for the period ending April 9, natural sweetener sales grew between 4% and 6%. Truvia also recently released a new, honey-based Truvia Nectar product and could benefit from the FDA’s newly updated nutrition fact label rules around sugar, requiring manufacturers to state how much sugar has been added on food and beverages’ nutritional labels, as well as its percentage of the daily recommended serving.