New research by Australian Bananas has found that Aussie parents feel the biggest changes in education across the decades is not just the integration of technology (76 per cent) or skyrocketing back-to-school costs (57 per cent), but the new age lunchbox (49 per cent) due to the increased food guidelines and ‘must have’ lunch box styles.

The research, funded by banana growers through the marketing levy, reveals school lunches are among the biggest differences parents have noticed from their own schooling experience. With four in five (81 per cent) sharing they now need to adhere to food guidelines and almost half of Aussie parents say there are a lot more restrictions on school lunches, compared to when they were at school (67 per cent).

Nuts (82 per cent) and seafood (33 per cent) were the biggest no-nos with the increase in allergy awareness, however, treats with sugar (29 per cent) and even plastic wrap (23 per cent) were included on the list.

While most (70 per cent) Aussie parents find it increasingly difficult to stick to the evolving school lunch box guidance, nearly all parents (93 per cent) shared that they include a banana. Naturally convenient in their own peel ‘packaging’, it is easy to understand why.

The classic sandwiches, including peanut butter or ham, observed the highest decline in popularity, paving the way for new favourites, sushi and salad. Also in decline are the trusty plastic lunch boxes, with paper lunch bags virtually non-existent, making bento boxes (38 per cent) and cooler bags (24 per cent) the new ‘it’ items.

With the modern changes to school lunches, it is surprising that parents (94 per cent) are not stressing about what to put in the lunchbox. Instead, their biggest challenge is getting products that their child will like (48 per cent) and being able to afford it all due to the cost of living (46 per cent). The majority (90 per cent) of parents even admitted to feeling an increasing financial strain this year.

The approach

One thing that has not changed is the humble Australian banana, which continues to be the key snack in lunch boxes across the country, helping kids do their thing at school, past, present and future.

To showcase the integral part the feel good fruit has played in Australian lunchbox history, Australian Bananas has partnered with media personality Tim Robards and his daughter Elle. Tim said: “Although a lot has changed since I was at school compared to Elle, one thing is the same – our favourite school snack, Australian Bananas.”

According to Dianne Sciacca, an Australian banana grower, “bananas have been the go-to school snack for generations. Australian bananas aren’t just delicious, they are an extremely nutritious, long-lasting energy snack packed with natural carbohydrates, vitamin B6 and potassium. Australian bananas are the perfect snack for fuelling any hop, skip or jump.”

The campaign

The primary objective of the Australian Banana’s ‘Back to School’ campaign is to create a spike in media attention on bananas during the ‘back to school’ period that highlights bananas as nature’s energy snack providing the fuel to help you do your thing.

The campaign kicked off in mid- January to educate Australians on how even though many schooling habits have evolved, the humble banana has always been Australia’s favourite snack to fuel for school.

Key elements of the campaign included:

Talent

To bring the campaign to life, Australian Bananas partnered with reality star (The Bachelor, SAS Australia) and health and fitness professional, Tim Robards, and his daughter, Elle Robards. Together the pair starred in a hero video shared with media and across social media. The video demonstrates what has changed since Tim attended school versus Elle attending school, while highlighting how bananas were, and remain, their favourite school snack, and sharing key banana campaign messages. Still images of the pair were also captured and shared with media for use across the campaign.

In addition to this, Tim promoted the campaign through:

• Conducting media interviews to highlight bananas as the ultimate back to school snack
• Providing a quote for Australian Bananas’ press release to be shared with media
• Sharing the campaign content on his own social (Instagram) account.

Social media and influencer partner

To further promote the back-to-school campaign, social media activity launched in January. This included sharing of content captured with talent partners Tim and Elle across the Australian Bananas’ owned social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok).

The campaign also featured other parents, including media personality and dad of two, Ben Milbourne, to share the key campaign messages and extend the reach of the campaign with their audiences, as well as sharing this influencer content across the Australian Bananas’ social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok).

Retail

Australian Bananas has an ‘always on’ approach with Coles and Woolworths online where bananas are promoted throughout the year. Activities included:

• Relevant creative and taglines for the “aisles” on which the campaign appears on online such as snacking, breakfast and fruit and veg
• Back to School focus on the “Brainiac Banana”