Situation

Camellia Brand, a legendary Louisiana food brand owned by  L.H. Hayward & Company, was established in New Orleans in 1923. A regional favorite, the Camellia identity runs deep—from the farms to the field to supermarket shelves. Camellia is the preferred provider of Louisiana’s quintessential soul food—red beans—but also packages 18 other varieties of high quality beans, peas and lentils.  

Camellia Brand turned to Gambel Communications for a proactive media relations and community outreach campaign that highlights and reinforces Camellia’s commitment to quality, as well as its family heritage and tradition.  

Implementation

As part of its recommendations, Gambel worked hand-in-hand with Camellia to plan and execute an intimate dinner that highlighted the brand and showcased the wide variety and versatility of its beans, peas and lentils. The dinner was planned as a part of Camellia’s Gather ‘Round campaign, created to reinforce the concept of food bringing people together around the dining table. 

Gambel capitalized on an existing partnership between Camellia Brand and nationally renowned chef Alon Shaya. The three-course, plated dinner—held at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum on February 13, 2019—brought together local media and culinary influencers over a menu curated and prepared by Chef Shaya. In preparation for the event, Gambel compiled a targeted list of influencers and sent invitations on behalf of Camellia. The final list of attendees was narrowed down to 26 guests and included traditional media representatives, social media influencers and members of Camellia’s team.  

Gambel also worked with Shaya’s team to coordinate food and staffing services, set table décor, designed invitations and name cards, and assemble “swag bags” as gifts to the attendees for their participation. 

Results

Attendees enjoyed a three-course meal prepared with Camellia. Gambel raised local awareness for Camellia Brand to solidify the brand’s role as the leading local producer of dry, high-quality beans, peas and lentils.  

 By all accounts, the Gather ‘Round influencer dinner was a complete success. Camellia received extensive social media coverage and generated local awareness in its target market, plus reinforced a key partnership between the brand and Chef Alon Shaya. A total of 14 influencers reached 215,205 people and generated 581,102 total impressions from static posts alone.  

 Other highlights include: 

• More than 50 posts about the campaign 

• More than 100 Instagram stories 

• 13,520 total likes across all social media platforms 

• 446 total comments 

• Camellia’s Instagram following increased by 761 accounts 

• Alon Shaya’s following increased by 1,039 accounts