Dole’s ‘Healthy Heroes’ wins best marketing campaign award

Dole Food Co. has received top marketing honors from the 2023 World Food Innovation Awards for a nine-month empowered living initiative inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The 2022 digital and in-store campaign, Dole Healthy Heroes, Assemble!, was judged the most meaningful, innovative and effective campaign impacting a specific audience from among entries submitted from around the world, according to a news release. The World Food Innovation Awards, in association with IFE (International Food & Drink Event), is a celebration of innovation and excellence across every category of the global food industry.

Dole Healthy Heroes, Assemble! targeted local heroes in four categories — mind, soul, heart and home — during six-week recruitment campaigns that featured new, Marvel character-inspired recipes; commemorative Marvel stickers and tags on tens of millions of Dole bananas and pineapples in supermarkets across North America; blogger and influencer partnerships; and in-store activations. Dole also released a series of free downloadable digital assets to encourage widespread consumer engagement, including a Banana Sticker Peel & Play Hero Book.

"We are honored by this award and even more pleased that our encouragement to everyday healthy heroes resonated beyond our campaign borders, not just in North America but around the world," Bil Goldfield, Dole’s director of corporate communications, said in the release. “We’re especially thankful to our retail and other partners who decided to participate and help make it one of our most successful healthy-living promotions ever.”

Ultimately, all the combined elements made Dole Healthy Heroes, Assemble! a big success, and the 2023 World Food Innovation Award is a testament to this achievement, according to the release.