WENATCHEE, WASH. - Stemilt’s newest campaign aims to have Rave apples recognized by Instagram with a verified page, which would be the social media network’s first verified fruit. 

Playing off the fact that Rave is the apple that people ‘rave’ about, Stemilt’s First Verified Fruit campaign is dedicated to sharing feel-good or “rave-worthy” content including positive and uplifting stories from communities across the country, while driving community engagement and garnering followers. 

“Given the world’s current position, we felt this is a fun way to create brand recognition around Rave,” said Brianna Shales, senior marketing manager at Stemilt. “Like everyone else, we’ve had to pivot many of our marketing efforts due to COVID-19, so we chose a digital campaign that focuses on positive, rave-worthy moments to bring a smile to people’s faces.” 

The campaign runs through September, to coincide with the apple’s season. Stemilt partnered with multiple Instagram influencers nationwide, who will be sharing rave-worthy moments on their Instagram feeds and encouraging their followers to visit Rave’s Instagram profile @raveapples to do the same.  

Shales said the Stemilt team is working hard to build awareness one person at a time through word-of-mouth marketing. They are using various hashtags, including #PassTheRave to share the apple with not only their followers but with friends, family and neighbors. 

“We’ve carefully chosen partners who focus their content on positivity, feel-good stories, amazing recipes and inspiration to bring some light into people’s lives,” said Shales. “Influencers like Kyndra Holley of Peace Love and Low Carb, Jocelyn Brown of Hip Mama’s Place and Katie Lemons of Twist of Lemons have a combined following of nearly 500,000 followers. They have a tight-knit community that makes them a great fit for celebrating Rave while it’s in season.” 

Stemilt is also supporting Rave and the First Verified Fruit campaign by tapping into multiple channels to celebrate the Rave season and FVF campaign, including Spotify, well-known food channel Serious Eats, and social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. 

Rave is a cross between the Honeycrisp and MonArk varieties. It was developed through natural cross pollination methods by the same apple breeder who also developed both the Honeycrisp and SweeTango varieties at the University of Minnesota. 

The premium apple comes off the tree a few weeks before most apples. This unique attribute, on top of its crisp, refreshing sweet-tart flavor and gorgeous fuchsia-color is what makes it such a success, according to Stemilt.