South Africa upgrades promotional campaign with ethical call to action
The forthcoming campaign sees the introduction of ethical messages as a key part of the strategy – particularly the role that the fruit industry is playing in the development of “New South Africa”. These will include:
• Around a third of a million people are employed in the South African deciduous fruit industry - each of these has an average of four dependants
• South African fruit is affordable, produced in a sustainable manner and fairly traded
• Approximately 99% of South African fruit is shipped - not flown
The ethical points will be used throughout the campaign, as a part of activity in and out of stores, in addition to the messages about the taste and overall quality of South African fruit that have been communicated since the initiative was launched.
A short film will be produced to communicate the industry’s ethical and sustainability initiatives. It will be used to support campaign activity, including PR and in social media; and also communicated on-packs. Early in 2013, a public debate will also be held and broadcast, which will tackle the ethics of eating fruit.
Meanwhile the ‘Help a South African School’ competition, which launched this year, will run for the second time in 2013. Working with the South African Embassy in London, it will again encourage children in UK schools to learn about South African culture, food and farming, while donating unwanted English language books to rural schools in the Western Cape.
Jacques Du Preez, Product Manager for Top Fruit and Stone Fruit at Hortgro Services, said: “The ethics of eating is increasingly high up consumers’ agenda, so it’s a good time to introduce to them the crucial role that fruit has been playing in the development of New South Africa during the last decade and a half. We have been working to empower and create jobs for previously disadvantaged people in South Africa, preparing them for management and ownership of fruit farms. It’s a significant and positive process of change for the country and many shoppers don’t yet understand that they are supporting it with every piece of our fruit they buy.”
The campaign creativity has also been reworked for the 2013 season, with a new strapline, “South Africa’s Pride”, that will sit alongside the established Beautiful Country, Beautiful Fruit message. New images have been selected to convey the positive future South Africa’s fruit industry is helping to build through the creation of jobs, and sustainable and ethical practices. The new creativity will be used throughout the campaign, through in-store and PR activity.
This will be the fourth consecutive year the South African industry has promoted stone fruit and top fruit in the UK market, following a pilot project to promote plums in early 2009 and the subsequent addition of peaches, nectarines, apples and pears to the initiative.
Du Preez added: “During the last three seasons, the stone fruit and top fruit industries have established a distinctive promotional campaign, which, across the seasons for these two categories, creates visibility for South African fruit for approximately nine months of the year. Working closely with retailers and the media, we have been communicating the fantastic eating quality, key seasons and unique varieties we produce in South Africa to encourage consumers to choose our fruit. We believe the addition of an ethical call to action complements these messages very well – and gives UK shoppers further motivation to seek out South African produce on the shelf.”
For more information:
Dominic Weaver
RED Communications Ltd,
Tel: 0044 1480 465953
Email: dominic@redcomm.co.uk