Marketing snapshot - March 2019

This marketing update was prepared by Hort Innovation for the March 2019 edition of The Custard Apple, produced as part of the Hort Innovation Custard Apple Fund investment Custard apple communication and extension program (CU16001).

The 2019 Custard Apple Marketing Campaign is set to launch in March, concluding in July. The focus of this campaign continues to be on raising awareness and appeal for custard apples through education about the fruit and promoting simple usage ideas, including fresh consumption. The program will include:

Media relations

Distribution of media packs to key media targets to promote media coverage opportunities across key food and lifestyle publications over the season. The packs will include:

• Updated season press release with top tips
• New recipe card
• Selection of high-quality images of custard apples

Farm tour and influencer partnership

This year Australian Custard Apples will be engaging with a food and lifestyle influencer by hosting them at a custard apple farm to experience custard apples from paddock to plate, providing more in-depth coverage for the season.

This will create content for the Custard Apple social media platform as well as gain extended consumer reach using the influencer’s social accounts. The farm tour has been scheduled to take place end of March to early April.

Social media

The Australian Custard Apple Facebook page will continue to reach and engage Custard Apple advocates through recipes, tips and tricks and grower content for an insight into custard apple farms. From mid-March to mid-July, there will be posting of content twice weekly. It will also be an opportunity share new influencer content and content captured during the farm tour. The overall campaign is expected to deliver a minimum reach of three million viewers through media coverage and 400,000 through social activity.

Joint in-store sampling of custard apples and persimmons

To kick off the 2019 season, a joint sampling campaign with custard apples and persimmons will take place across two key retailers targeting a select number of stores across Sydney and Melbourne.

This activation is a ‘test & learn’ initiative to:

• Determine the feasibility of ‘clustering’ marketing projects across smaller tropical industries such as custard apples and persimmons to maximise marketing campaigns with limited budget
• Understand the impact of sampling demonstrations on sales and consumer awareness
• Source refreshed shopper insights for custard apples to reference in future marketing plans

By partnering with Woolworths and Coles for this project, Custard Apples will have access to data and insights on the stores targeted, a review on potential sales uplift by doing the sampling activity direct from partner retailers, opportunity to train retail staff and ultimately, strengthen the relationship to keep custard apples top of mind during the season. The activation will commence from 25th March for four weeks, across 50 stores in Sydney and Melbourne with 100 sampling sessions so each store will be visited twice during the period.

For any queries relating to the custard apple marketing program or specific information provided above, please email marketing@horticulture.com.au.