Marketing snapshot - Hortlink 2018, edition 1

This Hort Innovation Sweetpotato Fund marketing snapshot has been taken from Hort Innovation’s Hortlink 2018, edition 1.

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

A new video campaign

The most recent activity has involved a strong focus on digital channels, making use of the industry’s new video ads. Six-second and 15-second ads have been created, all pointing consumers back to the Australian Sweetpotatoes website (www.australiansweetpotatoes.com.au) for recipes, tips and more. The quick videos include…

• ‘Supercharge your meals’ – watch it here
• ‘Supercharged flavour and goodness’ – watch it here
• ‘Don’t just have an ordinary meal’ – watch it here

The videos were rolled out across a range of catch-up television sites including 9Now, 7Plus and tenplay, taking advantage of the availability of successful, high-rating programs such as Married At First Sight. They also appeared ahead of video content across popular websites including taste.com.au and news.com.au, as well as health and fitness websites and those specifically targeting parents.

At the time of writing the video campaign was set to conclude on March 24, after four weeks of activity. In the first fortnight, the videos were seen more than 200,000 times. Look for full results in the next edition of Hortlink.

The videos were also put to use on YouTube, being played ahead of content in selected food channels, such as chef Jamie Oliver’s platform. The ads were also targeted to people watching content relating to parenting, plus there was age-based targeting. In the first fortnight of this activity, the sweetpotato content was seem more than one million times, with videos in the food channels proving particular successful in generating click-throughs to the industry’s consumer-facing website.

Other digital activity

Another aspect of the digital campaign has been having content developed and shared by key parenting websites. Two content pieces showcasing Australian sweetpotatoes have been produced so far, including…

• A sweetpotato choc-chip muffin recipe, showcased by popular blog site Kidgredients here and highlighted in Kidgredients’ Facebook and Instagram channels
• A healthy sweetpotato ‘strata bake’, also showcased by Kidgredients here and in this recipe video, which was also shared on the Mumtastic Facebook page.

Social media

The Australian Sweetpotatoes Facebook page has been continuing to engage consumers, with a focus on providing food-inspiration content for an audience that have children, are time poor and think of making dinner each night a burden.

New print campaign

At the time of writing, a new print campaign was in the process of being created. It will involve the creation of full-page colour advertorials, editorial content and links to recipe videos to appear in publications including Australian Women’s Weekly, Mother & Baby and Good Health.

In-store activity

Sweetpotato in-store demonstrations began this year in February, across Coles and Woolworths stores. A total of 230 sessions will be run in the first phase, with a second phase to kick off at a later date. This activity involves brand ambassadors serving easy and delicious sweetpotato fries to consumers, with the campaign objectives of…

• Educating shoppers about the health and nutritional benefits of sweetpotatoes
• Inspiring consumers with sweetpotatoes recipes and ‘supermeals’
• Encouraging trial and purchase
• Communicating key selling messages
• Highlighting where the sweetpoatoes can be located in store
• Leaving consumers with a positive brand experience.