Marketing snapshot - Hortlink 2018, edition 2

This Hort Innovation Summerfruit Fund marketing snapshot has been taken from Hort Innovation’s Hortlink 2018, edition 2.

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

As described in recent editions of Hortlink, activity for the 2017/18 season ranged from a mix of traditional and social media to showcase summerfruit as the perfect summer snack to Australian consumers, to a host of trade, media and retail activities in key export markets. With the current campaign drawing to a close at the end of March, the focus now turns to planning for the 2018/19 season.

To inform future marketing plans, the industry’s marketing levy has supported in-store interviews and consumer research to gain insight into the attitudes and purchasing behaviours of Australia’s main grocery buyers when it comes to summerfruit. The research looked at perceptions of fruit quality and how this impacts on consumers, and salience was found to be a key barrier for increased category penetration.  The insights will be used to support the next season’s, and future, marketing strategies. To begin, a workshop was held in early June with an industry marketing reference group to identify the key growth opportunities and potential positioning areas for Australian summerfruit.

For the season ahead, work is underway to develop the domestic public relations (PR) and social media campaign, which will be aimed at keeping summerfruit top of mind as a healthy snacking option for the whole family. Work is also planned to develop fresh new content for marketing activities, including building a library of premium images and other content for use in domestic campaigns and also to represent the industry in international activity.