Marketing snapshot - 2020/21

Hort Innovation is responsible for investing the mango marketing levy into a range of activities to drive awareness and consumption of the fruit, under the Hort Innovation Mango Fund. Read on for a snapshot of activities and results from the 2020/21 marketing program.

The 2020/21 marketing campaign saw the launch of a new disruptive media campaign ‘This Season’s Must Have’ that reframes mangoes as a regular healthy indulgence to encourage purchase during peak season.

CONSUMER MARKETING

Public relations (PR)

Public relations is one of the most effective ways of building a positive brand reputation among consumers. In 2020/21, Aussie Mangoes partnered with the Spring Racing Carnival, showcasing a mango-inspired hat by Milliner Neil Grigg and a former Miss Universe Australia. The stunt went alongside the official announcement of the season opening and achieved 200 pieces of coverage, reaching 60 million people.

Leading into summer, Aussie Mangoes also partnered with Foodbank Australia to deliver a festive charity calendar that had Aussie Mango growers ditch their flannos for high fashion. The campaign secured 250 hits and provided 46 million opportunities to see the content. This included coverage in the Daily Telegraph, reaching 1.8 million readers. The season launch was featured throughout numerous magazines including NT News, The Courier and news channels including 9 News, Studio 10 and 10 news first. Overall, this activity resulted in 59.4 million opportunities for Aussies to see the mango-inspired content.

To continue momentum in between major campaign moments, a proactive and reactive press office program to keep mangoes on the news agenda and front of mind was developed. This included the launch of the Good Mood Food report commissioned by Hort Innovation that showcased the nutritional benefits of eating mangoes. The research report and expert commentary generated coverage across print and online media, including in lifestyle publications Body+Soul, The Carousel and MiNDFOOD, reaching over 2.8 million people.

To close out a successful season and drive awareness and sales of the late season varieties, Aussie Mangoes highlighted the late season mangoes across the press office and social media. To encourage purchase and to educate Aussies on late varieties as the season came to an end, the campaign secured coverage across Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register.

Social media

Social media channels are a cost-effective way of reaching target audiences through platforms such as Facebook (www.facebook.com/aussiemangoes), Instagram (@aussiemangoes), Messenger and Audience Network. The 2020/21 campaign posted regularly throughout September to February and included a full fashion takeover of the Aussie Mangoes social media channels, partnering with stylish creators to shoot on-trend content inspired by the fruit.

Aussie Mangoes partnered with fashionable influencers to create ‘New Year, New Me’ recipes. Research was also commissioned to reveal the mood-boosting properties of mangoes, resulting in 33 pieces of coverage that reached four million people.

Digital

Digital formats of delivery are a powerful way of reaching consumers in their home. Throughout the campaign, Aussie Mangoes ran digital activity across December to February. This included a 15-second video followed by a 6-second video on YouTube, allowing the message to be communicated to the retargeted audience. The campaign reached over 2.3 million users, with a 99.8 per cent video completion rate. 

Events

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, this was the first year without the annual ‘Mess-tival’ event on the first weekend of summer. The replacement activity, the grower calendar, delivered just under half of the total reach usually secured by ‘Mess-tival’ however cost 80 per cent less.

Supply chain engagement

Supply chain engagement aims to develop and organise a range of events involving all key stakeholders within the mango supply chain to build interest, excitement and understanding of the mango industry, with the aim to increase the demand and consumption of fresh mangoes.

Retailers involved in this program included Aldi, Coles, Costco, Harris Farm Markets, Metcash/IGA and Woolworths. Activity included delivery of a stakeholder engagement activity plan for each retailer, point of purchase displays, mango sales challenges and a supply chain webinar for each retailer to present their own mango marketing plans.

EXPORT MARKETING

Aussie Mangoes invested in four key export markets with the intention of building a strong, collaborative relationship between growers, exporters, importers, and retailers. Promotional activities included in-store point of sale material, button badges for store staff, catalogues, out-of-home advertising, sales challenge competitions, social media and influencer, online shopping and home shopping via TV.

New Zealand: The “This Season’s Must Have” campaign was extended from Australia to New Zealand during the key mango season period of December and January. The campaign consisted of paid advertising across social media specifically targeting New Zealand shoppers and retail panels in shopping centres. The retail panels were placed in proximity to Countdown stores across 18 retail centres in 7 regions and received a total reach of 363,000.

South Korea: Normally, activities would be focused on instore promotion and sampling activities however due to COVID-19 restrictions, Aussie Mangoes worked with Jinwon on a program of digital promotional activities to drive awareness and understanding of the product. Activity included recipe development, public relations and social including influencer engagement. Mangoes also featured on B-Mart, an online ordering system. Results included 22,170 clicks on the ad and 432,041 views.

United States: The advertising and marketing campaign funded by Aussie Mangoes and run by Giumarra and retailer supermarkets in the USA aimed to entice their customers to purchase Aussie Mangoes. The materials included point of sale materials, digital advertising, mango bins, tent cards, cut fruit stickers and more. American consumers are gaining increased awareness of the premium flavour of Aussie Mangoes, leading to a growth in demand.

Hong Kong: Aussie Mangoes engaged in a promotional activity called the “Best Australian Mango Retailer Competition”, a merchandising campaign where retailers are encouraged to entice their customers to purchase Australian mangoes through the effective use of point of sale materials. The activity ran throughout 58 Wellcome stores and 25 Upscale’s stores. In-store tastings and price promotion was also launched at Wellcome stores to support the mango promotion and increase the awareness of Australian mangoes and varieties to the Hong Kong market.