Marketing snapshot - 2018/19

Hort Innovation is responsible for investing the persimmon marketing levy into a range of activities to drive awareness and consumption of the fruit, under the Hort Innovation Persimmon Fund. Read on for a snapshot of activities and results from 2018/19.

Public relations (PR)

Outreach to Australian media and subsequent coverage was used to help drive awareness, education and inspiration. This coverage was secured in two stages. Firstly, persimmon hampers were sent to 10 top-tier media and influencer targets. The hampers featured ingredients to make a delicious, autumnal persimmon recipe and recipients included Woman’s Day magazine, Best Recipes, Australian Women’s Weekly, Body + Soul, New Idea, Lifestyle.com.au, as well as influencers The Biting Truth, Nourish Naturally, The Lebanese Plate and Brown Paper Bag Nutrition. Subsequent media coverage generated the opportunity to reach almost 600,000 consumers. Secondly, in autumn a media release and fact sheet were distributed to print and online media outlets. This resulted in both print and digital editorial coverage with Woman’s Day, Australian Women’s Weekly, Body + Soul, and Over Sixty.

Over the course of the campaign a total of 26 pieces of coverage were secured across traditional and online. These included key messages around persimmon recipes, taste, varieties and seasonality and had a total reach of over 6.7 million.

Social media

Social media was used to inspire and educate the online community about the Australian persimmon season. Throughout the campaign, 16 posts were developed and posted across the Australian Persimmon Facebook (www.facebook.com/persimmonsaustralia) and Instagram (@persimmonsaustralia) channels to increase awareness and excitement about the season. These posts included inspiring, beautiful imagery as well as grower content, and delivered strong engagement. Both channels exceeded KPIs, with a combined total of more than 706,330 opportunities to people to see persimmon content.

In-store sampling

Through their Hort Innovation marketing programs, a joint Australian Persimmons and Australian Custard Apples in-store sampling campaign was executed in a total of 98 Woolworths and Coles stores across Sydney and Melbourne from 28 March to 26 April 2019. The objective of the campaign was to strengthen consumer awareness of persimmons and custard apples; increase purchase confidence among consumers by providing key information such as seasonal availability, how to select, and health benefits; and to facilitate immediate purchase by highlighting the in-store position.

Consumers were able to try sliced fresh persimmons and custard apples, and brochures were distributed to shoppers that contained key facts and tips. A total of 10,980 samples were consumed throughout the campaign, and it’s estimated more than 19,000 shoppers were exposed to the products.

Consumer research

In addition to in-store sampling, 400 shoppers participated in a deep-dive questionnaire (200 each for persimmons and custard apples). This helped to provide key insights into consumer behaviours and barriers that influence purchase of persimmons, which will be used to inform future marketing plans. Key take outs included that almost half (47 per cent) of people had never heard of persimmons before, and taste/texture, health benefits, quality and price were the top purchase triggers.