Van Gogh immortalized the tater (“pieper” in Dutch) in his painting The Potato Eaters, but statistics show that the Netherlands has fewer and fewer potato eaters. The Dutch Potato Organization (NAO) wanted to know why, and decided it was time for a recapturing campaign: “Power to the Pieper”.
The famous Van Gogh painting The Potato Eaters.
Potato not popular
Marketer Arend Zeelenberg: “The study showed there is a major misconception that potatoes are fattening, while in reality rice and pasta contain more carbohydrates per unit. Consumers are also unfamiliar with the healthy qualities of the potato, such as the vitamin levels and its richness in fibres. Young people in particular turn out to eat fewer potatoes. The good news is that this group of consumers did seem to be interested in the healthy qualities of the potato and in all the possibilities for variation.”
Sector-wide working group
Arend Zeelenberg heads the working group that gives shape to the “Power to the Pieper” campaign. The group has been composed by the Dutch Potato Organization, and 29 members of this organization provide funds. Zeelenberg: “The campaign has been running since February this year, and judging from the publicity in the press and popularity on social media, this media offensive can be called a success.”
‘Likeable’ potato
Zeelenberg: “We want to make the potato likeable again. The potato needs a more modern image.” The campaign also introduces people to the hidden qualities of the potato. “Few people know that for their portion of vitamin C, they can easily exchange the complicated superfoods, pastas and rice for the potato. And consumers need to know how they can combine the potato with international and modern dishes.”
Image priority
The campaign was intended to bring a halt to the lowering potato sales, but Zeelenberg says stimulating sales isn’t the main purpose of the media offensive: “Many factors influence the potato sales. Apart from sales, this campaign is mainly to structurally improve the position of the potato among consumers, which means the potato will end up on the plate more often.”
Potato traders in Germany and Belgium are also considering a promotional campaign. No European cooperation is planned as of yet according to Zeelenberg, but perhaps in the future: “A joint European campaign could be advantageous because of the larger scale. A possible disadvantage is that you can’t respond to national trends anymore. The reason to ignore potatoes could be different for each region or culture.”
Knowledge, attitude and behaviour
The campaign runs until July 2017. The objective is to change the consumer’s attitude toward the potato. Opinions are hard to measure, but Zeelenberg has a method to make success visible: “to measure the impact of the campaign, we monitor the media every day. We’ll also hold online surveys in which we look at knowledge, attitude and behaviour of consumers.”
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Buro AZ Strategy & marketing
Arend Zeelenberg