- Elaine Wong

PureVia, a stevia sweetener sold by the Whole Earth Sweetener Co., has named TracyLocke as its new lead agency for creative, digital and media buying duties, the company said this week.

Media billing on the account is estimated at between $8 and $10 million, and future work will come in the form of FSIs, in-store marketing and an emphasis on digital and social media activity, PureVia brand director J.J. Betts said. TracyLocke, which has been working with PureVia on a project basis, will handle the account from its Wilton, Conn., office.

Betts said the win stemmed from a succession of smaller, “strategic and project-focused” work the agency had done for PureVia, which eventually led to a larger, TV and print-based campaign. In June, PureVia ran a series of print ads showing volleyball player Gabrielle Reese touting the natural roots of the product. (Ads portrayed Reese with stevia leaves wrapped around her body. Tagline: “I like my sweetener au naturel.”)

The move comes as the stevia category is poised for stellar growth, with sales of stevia-sweetened products expected to hit more than $100 million this year, per research firm Mintel. With the sugar substitutes category, sales of products containing natural stevia grew 550 percent, PureVia said. (Figures are based on the latest 52-week Nielsen data, ended Oct. 17, Betts said.) Sales of artificial sweeteners, on the other hand, were down seven percent during that same period.

The stevia category’s gotten much attention since the Food and Drug Administration approved its use as a sweetener in food and beverages last December. TracyLocke, however, sees rising competition as a good thing.

“It just makes you better and forces you to define a very clear point of view, especially when launching into a new category with a new brand,” said TracyLocke client services director Tiffany Begoon. She added that consumer demand for natural products, ingredient transparency and the move away from sweeteners containing calories and artificial ingredients are driving the trend.

PureVia most recently extended its “au naturel” campaign to television, and spots broke last month. The brand spent $2.8 million on measured media between May and August of this year, per Nielsen. (The figures exclude online spend.)