Marketing snapshot - Hortlink 2016, winter

This Hort Innovation Mushroom Fund marketing snapshot has been taken from Hort Innovation’s Hortlink 2016, winter edition.

The Australian mushroom industry launched the biggest marketing campaign in its history in May this year, running across television, out of home, digital and social media with the aim of encouraging home cooks to add mushrooms to their everyday dishes. The focus has been on showing how adding mushrooms makes meals healthier and tastier.

Television

To take advantage of the cooler weather, the initial television advertising consisted of three bursts over a two-and-a-half month period, with the campaign successfully delivered across all capital city markets during May and June. Grocery buyers between the ages of 25 and 54 were targeted via programs such as MasterChef and Better Homes and Gardens to not only deliver audience reach but also provide the demographic for the campaign. Analysis of this campaign is currently in progress.

Out of home

The television campaign was backed by an out of home campaign with two creative shopaLite panels, the first depicting the top 20 dishes to include mushrooms in and the second showcasing bolognese incorporating blended mushrooms. The digital campaign was featured in over 200 shopping centres nationally at locations strategically positioned near supermarkets to reinforce mushrooms at top of mind on the path to purchase for consumers.

Digital campaign

The digital campaign rolled out across a range of online channels to support the television campaign’s objectives of brand awareness and action through a combination of online video and content placement.

Online users visiting top-performing websites such as www.taste.com.au were provided with health, cooking and recipe-related content. Further, consumers visiting premium ‘catch up’ websites (Yahoo 7 and Ten Play) to view their favourite television shows were targeted with a number of online video placements including 30 second and 15 second spots, with almost eight out of 10 people who clicked on the videos watching them to completion.

Media site Buzzfeed was also used as part of the online strategy, running a series of original content articles that attracted almost 60,000 clicks and received incredibly strong consumer feedback.

Social media

Regular posts featured on Facebook and Instagram, supported by advertising featuring the television commercial, to deliver an audience reach of over 2.3 million consumers.

The Mushies on Sourdough Instagram campaign drew to a close after an eight-week search for the tastiest and most creative dish using Brasserie Bread sourdough and Australian mushrooms. The joint venture food-service promotion focused on 240 cafes that were encouraged to feature mushrooms on sourdough bread and post the creations on social media channel Instagram. The objective was to increase growth in food service and push mushrooms on sourdough to trend on social media.

The promotion, which attracted 182 entries, successfully drove engagement on social media and boosted followers on the Australian Mushrooms Instagram feed.

Events

Exposure has also been provided through participation at events such as the Sydney Royal Easter Show and Melbourne Good Food and Wine Show. These events provide an efficient way of extending the message to key target markets that much-loved meals can be made much tastier and healthier with Australian Mushrooms.

The last half of 2016 will see a raft of events being undertaken by Australian Mushrooms, starting with the Ekka in August and then moving across the country for the Royal shows and a selection of other foodie events.

These events will be supported by a digital and social media strategy in October and November, and further in-store activities will also take place to bring the campaign to the point of purchase.

The next steps

The next burst of television advertising will be in February 2017, with a range of other cost-effective promotional strategies employed in the interim to ensure that mushrooms stay top of mind with consumers. The campaign for the remainder of 2016 will focus on digital and social media combined with in-store activities and events.

From now until the end of the year there will be more happening than ever before, with a huge digital push in the last quarter and a targeted program of events set to promote Australian mushrooms to consumers.