Marketing snapshot - Hortlink 2017, edition 4

This Hort Innovation Papaya Fund marketing snapshot has been taken from Hort Innovation’s Hortlink 2017, edition 4.

Hort Innovation is responsible for investing the papaya marketing levy into a range of activities to grow awareness and consumption, under the Hort Innovation Papaya Fund.

The papaya industry marketing program’s main activity is focused on social media efforts. The ‘always on’ approach ensures that fresh, boutique content to share with the industry’s 24,300 Facebook followers is on hand, when and where it’s needed. Results in the last quarter included an engagement rate of 8.5 per cent, and a reach of over 250,000 consumers. Page growth, or real papaya consumers following the page, has been steadily growing at three per cent each quarter.

The marketing program also saw Australian Papayas showcasing at the Essential Baby and Toddler Show, held in Darling Harbour in late September. More than 17,600 visitors attended the show and more than 1100 papaya samples and nutritional information leaflets were handed out. The demographic fell directly into the target audience, including 46 per cent who were pregnant, 34 per cent who had a baby 0-12 months, 22 per cent who had a toddler aged 13-36 months, and 13 per cent who had a child over three years old.

At the time of writing, Hort Innovation was appointing a delivery partner for in-store demonstrations and events for the remainder of the financial year, with updates to follow in an upcoming Hortlink.

The new calendar year will see the development of engaging papaya collateral, with an update of all current assets, including 12 new recipes. Baby expos will also feature, with Sydney and Brisbane shows on the radar. As well, consumer research has been flagged to be conducted early in the new calendar year to help determine strategic direction for the marketing program going forward.