Marketing snapshot - October 2018

Hort Innovation is responsible for investing the cherry marketing levy into a range of activities to grow awareness and consumption, under the Hort Innovation Cherry Fund. Here’s a look at some of the most recent activity…

Domestic marketing

Content Development

• In the last edition of Hortlink; a consumer research project was conducted to test a new direction for Australian cherries for the 2018/19 season. “Share the love” resonated the most with 600 consumers across Australia who took part in the study. In addition, to support the new strategy, Australian cherries will undertake a refresh of brand guidelines, a new logo and other visuals.
• The new key messaging will aim to capture the inherent special qualities of cherries and drive sales outside of the Christmas period
• The percentage of households purchasing cherries saw an increase of 7% to 40.5% in the 2017/18 season.

Cherry Mentoring Store Program

• The upcoming season marketing campaign plans to engage key retailers. Specifically, through working closely with Woolworths, a cherry mentoring store program will be conducted nationally with the aim to drive seasonal awareness at store level.

State Based Promotions

• The success of last season’s state-based promotion will be initiated again across six states. Public relations, media, events and farm-gate promotions will launch the season and help drive sales outside of the Christmas period.

Export Marketing

Taste Australia

• Planning has begun for this year’s Taste Australia retail program in China and Vietnam. Promotional activities will include media releases and a social media campaign. A launch seminar will be held in China and industry delegates representing importers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, stakeholders and local media will be invited to support the seasons launch.