Marketing snapshot - Hortlink 2017, edition 3

This Hort Innovation Sweet Potato Fund marketing snapshot has been taken from Hort Innovation’s Hortlink 2017, edition 3.

The Sweetpotato Fund marketing efforts have continued to focus on promoting the health, taste and ease of cooking benefits to a wide range of consumers via online, social media and face-to-face event engagement points.

Read more about the exciting new sweetpotato recipe book, social media success and excitement generated by the Ekka Royal Show’s sweetpotato display below.

Sweetpotato recipe book

The marketing team has been hard at work developing a new recipe book with refreshed recipes and top sweetpotato facts. The book will be released in two formats – a hard copy for high-end events, such as parenting expos, and an e-book for mass distribution through the industry’s social channels.

The book is currently with the printers so watch this space for the official launch. It is anticipated that the book will receive a lot of attention and exposure. Growers can request copies and get involved with sharing and promoting the book.

Ekka Royal Show 2017

Sweetpotatoes were featured at the Ekka Royal Show in Brisbane during August, with over 450,000 consumers moving through the event; a huge success for traffic that passed by and had the opportunity to engage with the sweetpotato brand and sampling.

The Australian Sweetpotatoes activity was housed on a branded exhibit located in the Woolworths Fresh Food Pavilion, arguably the busiest pavilion at the Ekka. The exhibit was positioned right inside a main entrance and adjacent to the Hort Innovation apples and pears exhibit. The Australian Sweetpotatoes logo was positioned at 3.5m height and on the counter base to give the exhibit perfect exposure to the target audience.

The response to samples was overwhelmingly positive. Crowds of people gathered around the exhibit, enticed by the delicious wafting smells of sweetpotato samples, and queues formed when samples were handed out.

Wicker baskets holding sweetpotatoes were located on the countertops, staff wore Australian Sweetpotatoes hats and aprons, and a total of 70,000 brochures/recipe cards were handed out to passers-by during the sampling, including;

• 30,000 Super Charge Your Meal sweetpotato brochures
• 25,000 Sweetpotato Fries recipe cards
• 15,000 Sweetpotato Frittata recipe cards.

Public relations/social media campaign

The sweetpotato social media campaign is continuing to engage people through the Facebook platform. This activity will continue to focus on the core audience that have children, are time poor and think of making dinner each night a burden, with social channels continuing to act as a resource for time-pressured mums and partners across Australia. The content provides dinner inspiration that is quick, easy and will make them a winner at the dinner table.

Part of the strategy going forward will be to include grower profiles on the social platforms, as research has shown that consumers love meeting the growers. With currently over 5000 followers it is expected this will increase as more tips, hacks and delicious recipes are shared through Facebook.