Marketing snapshot - 2018/19

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

PUBLIC RELATIONS (PR)

Media

Media outreach was used to help drive awareness, education and inspiration through high-reaching coverage. In addition to a pineapple media event to kick-start the winter peak, this involved the distribution of a media release with quotes from pineapple grower Ben Clifton and Australian Pineapples ambassador Ben Milbourne, plus tips and a fact sheet, pineapple imagery and recipes.

Pineapple ‘#EndlessSummer’ hampers were also sent to 10 short-lead and digital media and influencers to celebrate the start of warm weather and to secure spring and summer coverage and social snaps.

Over the course of the campaign, over 130 pieces of coverage were secured across traditional and online, translating to an opportunity to reach 19.7 million people. Earned media included articles from New Idea, body+soul, 9Honey and BW Magazine in The Daily Telegraph.

In the first half of 2019, to support the winter burst, media were equipped with pineapple fact sheets, new recipes, imagery and video content. There was also leveraging of resident dietitian at Hort Innovation Jemma O’Hanlon to communicate the health benefits of pineapples with credibility. At the end of 2018/19, the opportunity to reach 4.4 million people had been achieved through coverage in publications such as New Idea, Australia’s Best Recipes, Sportsluxe and Newcastle Weekly.

Ambassador partnership

Chef and entertaining foodie Ben Milbourne was recruited to create delicious and retro-inspired, easy pineapple dishes including pineapple jam, roasted pineapple, slow cooked pineapple and beef curry, and pork and pineapple skewers. Ben provided credibility to messages, along with these great recipes and images to leverage with media. Additionally, Ben posted content across his own social channels, which helped to increase reach among consumers.

Media event

The 2018 winter season was kicked off with a media lunch with an Endless Summer theme. The Gantry restaurant in Sydney prepared a bespoke menu full of wintery ways to use pineapple. Media and influencer guests enjoyed a delicious lunch of pineapple dishes while learning about seasonality, selection and kitchen tips from pineapple growers to pass on to their own audiences. The space was decorated to encourage plenty of pineapple Instagram snaps. More than 70 social clips were generated from the event from key media and food/ health influencers, resulting in more than 1.2 million opportunities for people to see pineapple content.

Partnership with The Biting Truth

Australian Pineapples collaborated with dietitians and influencers The Biting Truth to create pineapple-inspired recipes and video content to demonstrate the versatility of pineapples. This enabled conversation with media to generate press coverage during winter, and engaged pineapple advocates on owned social channels to drive consideration of the fruit. Through the partnership, Australian Pineapples was able to access The Biting Truth’s followers and fan base, extending overall consumer reach.

The first burst of this activity occurred in June/July 2019 for the Australian Pineapples winter campaign, and the second burst will happen in 2019/20 in preparation for the summer season.

Social media

Using curated pineapple content from local growers, food bloggers and pineapple fans, the Australian Pineapples Facebook (www.facebook.com/aussiepineapples) and Instagram (@aussiepineapples) social channels were used to inspire purchase and consumption of pineapples year-round. The pages celebrated pineapples by featuring the delicious fruit, sharing pineapple tips, providing insight into pineapple growers, and promoting the key message of year-round availability, including in winter.

Over the course of the campaign in 2018, the Australian Pineapples Facebook and Instagram pages provided a combined opportunity to reach more than 1.15 million people. Both social accounts achieved strong engagement, seven per cent and 25 per cent respectively, exceeding targets set for the year.

In 2019, there was a new focus on three key content pillars to address key barriers to purchase, based on consumer insights: ‘Pineapple know-how’ (such things as how to select and prepare); ‘pineapple inspiration’, through recipes for different types of occasions; and ‘pineapple love’, which focuses on grower and farm content.

Australian Pineapples developed a four-part educational video series of pineapple hacks including how to cut and store pineapples, how to select pineapples, tops on and off, and seasonality for leveraging on the Australian Pineapples social channels for winter.

Website

The Australian Pineapples website (www.australianpineapples.com.au) was relaunched with a fresh and responsive design in July 2018. Through implementing search engine optimisation (SEO) and ensuring page security, the website was updated with new content and recipe assets, making it the go-to site for pineapple recipes, tips and information.