Marketing snapshot - 2019/20

Hort Innovation is responsible for investing the citrus marketing levy into a range of activities to drive awareness and consumption, under the Hort Innovation Citrus Fund. Here’s a quick look at some of the activities and achievements of 2019/20, for both the domestic and export marketing campaigns.

Under the Taste Australia banner, 2019/20 saw a successful Australian citrus marketing campaign to help drive growth for the category in four key export markets: Japan, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Taste Australia is the whole-of-horticulture brand used to increase the profile, sales and consumption of premium Australian horticulture products in export markets. The citrus campaign focused on in-store activity to drive timely awareness and consumption and was supported by social media.

Japan

To drive awareness of the arrival of Australian navel oranges in market and highlight their superior quality, a press release was distributed to 100 select media outlets. The release shared product information and trade data for the year’s Australian citrus crop. This activity resulted in 36 pieces of coverage in publications including Infoseek News (Rakuten), Line News, Excite News and Asahi Journal. Across these four major publications alone, 63 million impressions were generated. Across the whole media campaign, over 370 million impressions were generated with a combined media value of $576,000, a record high for the Taste Australia campaign in Japan.

To educate Japanese consumers about Australian navel oranges, a partnership was established with Japanese influencer Rosso to create Australian navel orange dishes with a Japanese twist. Rosso creates stunning content specialising in traditional and homemade Japanese dishes that are inspiring and easy for her audience to replicate at home. For this campaign, Rosso re-invented four classic Japanese dishes, introducing Australian navel oranges: Somen, Chirashi Sushi, Orange Sandwich and a Bento Box. This generated a total of 496,000 impressions and 11,413 likes.

On Facebook and Instagram, 27 posts were made throughout the campaign consisting of 18 images, one video, four animations, and four influencer posts. These animations achieved encouraging results with one reaching 40,000 views.

In-store activities were also conducted to promote Australian fruit to consumers. Sampling and point-of-sale materials were featured at 61 supermarkets and grocers across Japan.

China

The year’s campaign was structured to align with the customer journey on the path to purchase. Activity included building broad awareness in a mass media environment prior to product arriving in market, driving education on the product as it arrived and then encouraging people to purchase through retail sampling.

The campaign kicked off with the screening of a major TV commercial at the AFL’s game in Shanghai to drive mass awareness among an audience known to have an existing relationship or interest in Australia. Filmed on a Mildura citrus farm, the video capitalised on Hort Innovation marketing research that found Chinese customers value the ‘vitality’ factor of citrus, with an ending that featured kids eating oranges after finishing up a game of footy.

The video reached more than 4.6 million people via live screening at the game and further screenings on various TV channels in China. It was followed by a range of activity to drive further awareness and education via Chinese lifestyle key opinion leaders (or influencers) that generated seven million impressions, a branded page on e-commerce platform Hema, and 254 retail sampling sessions in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenyang.

The Philippines

The campaign kicked off with a special event to drive awareness of the arrival of Australian navel oranges in market and showcase their superior quality and health benefits. This event, held in Manila on July 24, targeted local media, influencers and important trade, government and retailers to drive objective media coverage and strengthen existing relationships with program partners.

More than 70 people attended and enjoyed informative addresses by special speakers and a cooking demonstration by Australian chef Dennis Lesie, Executive Chef at the Hilton Manila. Opening remarks were provided by the Australian Embassy, which reinforced the trade relationship between the two countries. This was well received by media along with the fact that a representative from Citrus Australia attended – this was the first in-market event they had been to in the Philippines, which impressed attendees including trade partners and local media.

The best pieces of coverage featured in the Manila Times in both print and online – reaching more than 1.5 million people. This piece was a long-form feature positioned in the lifestyle section, reaching health conscious and foodie types and referenced the launch event, presented tips for cooking oranges and spoke to the benefits of Australian-grown oranges.

The Filipino audience is highly active on Facebook and therefore a key strategy was to ensure that the campaign drove awareness on social media – both to create awareness of the product arriving in market, and also to highlight why people should buy Australian citrus. A total of 25 social media posts were shared on Facebook and Instagram – a mix of both organic and paid content. This content comprised 18 images, one video, four animations and two mini games to drive engagement. It generated a total of 641,522 impressions, 63,582 engagements and 2,500 new followers across both platforms. A post showcasing a peeling technique was particularly well received, with a total reach of 60,977 and 15,877 engagements, making it the most engaging post in the campaign in this market.

A total of 204 sampling sessions featured at 48 supermarkets across the Philippines with vibrant branding present to create awareness.

Vietnam

To drive awareness of the arrival of Australian navel oranges in market and their superior quality, an event was organised targeting local media to drive objective media coverage and education on the fruit. A sit-down lunch was held for 10 media at a popular restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City where they could learn more about Australian navel oranges and enjoy some samples. Oranges were displayed on arrival and included in a special tailored menu, while an Austrade representative provided a welcome and Taste Australia presented a compelling origins video on Australian citrus and shared information on the year’s harvest.

Top coverage was from FBNC TV news, taking clips of the citrus video to an audience of 137,720. The subscribers to this private national TV channel are middle to upper class consumers who pay attention to health and lifestyle and can afford imported fruits. This coverage helped Taste Australia to precisely communicate with the target market.

A total of 25 social media posts were also shared on Facebook and Instagram – a mix of both organic and paid content. This content comprised 18 static images, one video, four animations and two mini games to drive engagement. This activity generated a total of 574,524 impressions and 2,172 likes across both platforms. The mini games were particularly well received, with the second game reaching 111,555 and generating 388 comments and 213 shares, making it the most engaging post in the Vietnamese campaign.

Sampling and point of sale marketing featured at four retailers in 91 supermarkets and grocers with 304 sampling sessions across Vietnam, with the majority in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.