Marketing snapshot - 2019/20

Hort Innovation is responsible for investing the pineapple marketing levy into a range of activities to drive awareness and consumption, under the Hort Innovation Pineapple Fund. Here’s a quick look at some of the activities and achievements of 2019/20, for both the domestic and export marketing campaigns.

Public relations

MEDIA

The objective of media outreach was to position Australian Pineapples as a delicious and healthy fruit for a ‘taste of summer’ all year round. This was achieved through a mix of press releases, seasonal updates inclusive of facts and health information, and influencer engagement with recipes and photography content creation.

These activities were designed to educate, inspire, and remind consumers at the appropriate time about pineapple availability and consumption. They equipped consumers with the information needed to go and purchase pineapples.

The seasonal update was brought together with commentary from pineapple grower Ben Clifton about the upcoming winter season, with Hort Innovation R&D Manager and dietitian Jemma O’Hanlon providing key health information on pineapples. This update was supplemented with a ‘tips and tricks’ fact sheet about pineapples and new recipe content from dietitians and influencers The Biting Truth. To further drive this messaging, recipe content from previous brand ambassadors Ben Milbourne (2018) and the Wholesome Cook (2017) was repurposed.

Australian Pineapples had key messages featured in 100 per cent of articles produced as a result of media outreach. The total coverage resulted in 7.8 million opportunities for people to see pineapple-inspired content, and included articles in publications such as New Idea, Canberra Weekly and Female.com.au.

PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BITING TRUTH

Australian Pineapples continued their partnership with dietitian influencers The Biting Truth to create pineapple inspired recipes and video content. Through the partnership, Australian Pineapples was able to access The Biting Truth’s 27,600 followers, extending overall consumer reach.

The Biting Truth were chosen due to their authority as health professionals and the credibility they could add to the messaging and positioning of Australian Pineapples as a delicious and healthy fruit for a ‘taste of summer’ all year-round. This messaging enabled conversation with media to generate coverage during winter as well as engaging pineapple advocates on social channels all year round.

Social media

The Australian Pineapples Facebook (www.facebook.com/aussiepineapples) and Instagram (@aussiepineapples) social channels have been used to promote educational and inspirational content to showcase year-round consumption occasions, especially in winter, and to promote confidence in purchase.

The focus on three key content pillars continued in 2019/20 to address key barriers to purchase, based on consumer insights: ‘Pineapple know-how’ (such 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.

Using curated pineapple content from local growers, food bloggers and pineapple fans, the Australian Pineapples 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 yearround consumption, including winter.

Over the course of the campaign, the Australian Pineapples Facebook and Instagram pages provided over 1.6 million opportunities for people to see pineapple-focused content, exceeding last years’ campaign results by eight per cent. Both channels achieved strong engagement levels of eight and 15 per cent, respectively.

Impact of COVID-19

Due to the unfolding COVID-19 situation, the industry’s social media content calendar was reviewed to ensure that communications were appropriate in the current climate while continuing to inspire Australians to eat pineapples. With increasing interest in home cooking and health during this period, the review included the following decisions:

• Refining the tone of voice to ensure contextual appropriateness (for example, no referencing ‘entertaining with friends’)
• Ensuring messaging was helpful and useful during social distancing / isolation periods, such as showcasing recipes great for freezing, or sharing tips on extending the life of fresh produce through proper storage techniques
• Dialing up health messaging to make consumers aware of the nutritional benefits eating pineapples can provide
• Continuing educational messaging on selection, usage and storage ideas.

Australian Pineapples had planned to run an in-store sampling campaign in 17 Harris Farm stores throughout New South Wales during April 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 situation, this activity had to be cancelled.