Marketing snapshot - Hortlink 2018, edition 2

This Hort Innovation Custard Apple Fund marketing snapshot has been taken from Hort Innovation’s Hortlink 2018, edition 2.

Hort Innovation is responsible for investing the custard apple marketing levy into a range of activities to grow awareness and consumption, under the Hort Innovation Custard Apple Fund.

For the current season, activities are raising awareness, increasing appeal and delivering education around custard apples, focusing on the whole fruit and simple usage ideas. The campaign has so far involved the following elements…

Development of new recipe content

Five new recipes cards have been created to re-energise custard apples through both social media and print, showcasing the fruit in easy and delicious sweet and savoury dishes. You can view the new recipes and imagery on Facebook here.

A continued presence on social media

The custard apple social media campaign revolves around the Custard Apples Australia Facebook page, with activity for 2018 beginning in mid-March at the start of the season.

On Facebook, there are three key ‘pillars’ of content:

• ‘Fresh’ – to educate consumers on the simple ways to enjoy custard apples with family and friends
• ‘Food’ – to inspire fans to get creative with easy usage ideas
• ‘Farm’ – to excite consumers with news and updates straight from the farm.

The top Facebook post for the March-April period was a farm fact about how the Easter full moon affects the start of the season. Custard apple fans were evidently excited for the season to kick off again, with the majority of the 123 commenters on the post talking about how much they love custard apples and how ‘yummy’ they are.

The top Facebook post for the April-May period was a grower picture taken during the harvest. The page’s fans were impressed with the haul of fresh custard apples, with the post receiving more than 1700 ‘likes’ and 153 comments. This is a great reminder that if you have any images or videos of your own that could be used in the social media campaign, now or in future seasons, don’t be afraid to share them with Hort Innovation's marketing manager for the industry – find the details here.

At the tail-end of June, the industry Facebook page had achieved a reach of 331,747 people for the season so far – that’s a lot of custard apple fans keen to learn about, enjoy and celebrate the fruit. Posts that focus on fun facts, handy hints or grower imagery are continuing to perform the strongest.

Media outreach

For the season, a comprehensive media pack was developed and distributed to key media targets, including a season press release with top tips, the new recipe cards and a selection of images, along with information about contacting growers for media interviews.

At the time of writing, the campaign’s media outreach had resulted in Australian custard apples being featured some 40 times in the media, including on websites and in newsletters. Combined, the coverage has reached more than 9.3 million people, delivering a key campaign message 100 per cent of the time.

As a sampling, coverage has so far appeared in…

• Body+Soul, with the publication sharing the new custard apple sorbet recipe on Facebook and in a newsletter
• Best Recipes, with two recipes featured here and here
• Dr Joanna McMillan’s channels, with the sorbet recipes appearing on her website and in a recent newsletter
• Girl.com.au, which featured the sorbet recipe and seasonal info, as well as the new custard apple cheesecake recipe
• Life Begins At, which featured the sorbet recipe online and a recent newsletter
• Motherpedia, which featured an article with seasonal info and tips
• Fresh Plaza, which featured this article on the custard apple season from an industry perspective
• Nine Kitchen, which featured the new custard apple and pear crumble as the lead recipe in a Mother’s Day album which sat for a time on the homepage, providing fantastic exposure
• Best Recipes, which featured the custard apple and pear crumble recipe and promoted it on Facebook
• Mindfood also featured the custard apple and pear crumble on its website.