The Isle of Man and Isle of Man Creamery’s mature cheddar is the star of a major TV, press and in-store campaign by the upmarket Publix supermarket chain in the USA. The TV ads feature shots of some of the Island’s dairy herd at West Baldwin (belonging to Mr Andrew Sanders and his wife Sue), sweeping panoramas of Port Erin and a beautiful glen shot. The script talks of how “the sea breeze rolls in and becomes sweet mountain air” and describes the traditional skills of the cheese-makers at the Creamery in glowing terms, as well as describing the efforts that Publix put into finding the best products for their customers.
The product starring in the campaign is what Publix call “12 months Imported Aged Cheddar” – Isle of Man Mature Cheddar. As the featured cheese, Isle of Man cheddar not only appears on television, it is also featured in various signage inside and outside the stores.
Publix has more than 1,000 stores throughout Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.
Since the start of the broadcast of the television adverts, Isle of Man Creamery has had dozens of emails from Manx people living in Florida and other southern states saying "well done / great to see your product here / amazing to see Isle of Man on television" etc. One ex-Islander Marc Harrison, who runs a holiday home management and rental business in Orlando said “we have been buying Manx cheese over here for a couple of years and make sure we have it in the Welcome Basket of items that we leave for our guests. Our guests love it and now they are commenting that they have seen the cheese on television and can now picture what the Isle of Man looks like. When we were walking into our local store this week, the first thing we saw was the sign showing the Isle of Man cheese”. (SEE PHOTO)
Minister for Economic Development, John Shimmin said "DED have been delighted to support the Creamery's export initiatives over the years. The retailer's TV promotion of the Isle of Man to 50 million consumers in the US demonstrates that it isn't just the economic benefit to the Creamery, but raising the profile of the Island as a whole. This is a great example of one sector benefiting Isle of Man plc".
Findlay Macleod, Managing Director of Isle of Man Creamery said “The fact that a retailer of the calibre of Publix has chosen to feature our cheese in this way reflects the skill and care taken by our cheese-makers and the quality of the milk produced by Manx dairy farmers. We are extremely grateful to Publix for promoting Isle of Man Mature Cheddar in this way and hope we can develop the relationship between us further in future”.
The television ad can be seen on You Tube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j5WtF4QSY0
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