Outreach
Fall Gardens - Ashland, OR
The Farmer
We have started contacting organizations such as the World Cocoa Foundation to develop relationships for outreach. We hope to participate in their conferences and get the film disseminated to a wide audience. The WCF and others work directly with farmers with various programs. We hope to use the film as an educational tool for them to realize the potential of what they can do whether it’s using 100% organic, sustainable methods or actually creating their own product to market.
The Chocolate Producer
There is a large wave of new chocolatiers popping up, especially in the US. Our hope is that — through the film and additional information published about what the characters are working on — they can reach the same conclusion as our characters: Sourcing from sustainable and organic farms will create better chocolate for the consumers resulting in higher profits for the producer and better conditions for the farmers which then allows growers to continue to produce high quality beans.
The Consumer
And finally, we will specifically target consumers. This will happen on a large, general level through such efforts as:
- This interactive website
- Information at retail locations about the best, socially responsible chocolates to purchase, as well as the impact consumers have when buying these chocolates
- Ways to get involved with the source such as donating money or visiting the farms and setting up a presence at food conventions
We will also attempt to educate on a more intimate level with chocolate tastings and the gourmet markets. For example, starting in our local San Francisco Bay Area, we have many top level chefs and restaurants with whom we have spoken with about hosting chocolate awareness events such as creating an entire menu with items made from chocolate and hosting tastings with individuals such as Chloé. Each of these is an opportunity to reach the individual and educate him/her about how to buy and appreciate the taste of full circle sustainable chocolate. We hope to interest consumers in making these wise choices with chocolate and also letting them know how many more items they can have an impact with, thereby extending efforts beyond just the chocolate product.
Guerrilla Marketing
The Chocolate project is being developed with viral marketing in mind, from the very beginning. The project will have a strong web presence, the core of which is this website which acts as a Chocolate and Social Entrepreneur Resource Center. Social networking, blogging and other viral bookmarking tools will be readily available to spread the word. This guerrilla marketing style is a great match for Chocolate because grass roots change gains momentum and power from the ground up.
We have set up an interactive website early in production. This site will be adequately maintained both during production and after. We will promote the site on the many chocolate and food lover sites, but will develop it to act as a nexus for these sites as well.
The site will include the basic information about the film:
- Story
- Trailer
- Progress of film with clips and podcasts
- Blog
- Press
- Directors’ statement
- Photo gallery
As well as educational elements:
- History of chocolate
- Information about and maps of cacao producing regions in the world
- Chocolate resources such as organizations and fair trade options
- Ways to embed and share the trailer and promote the film
- Forum for discussion about what’s going on
In addition, we will implement and maintain the following:
- A Facebook group
- MySpace page
- A Ning community
- A Twitter feed
- A YouTube channel
- A Vimeo channel
- A Facebook application which shows the economics of cacao production with wall posts of “chocolate bars” that come with a bit of information and link back to the site
- An embeddable flash widget with similar ideas that can be used anywhere
- Curriculum packs with interactive features and videos
- Embeddable YouTube/Vimeo videos of the production process as well as vignettes of the various characters and DVD extras
- Active, trackable email campaigns
More…
Click here to keep track of our progress.