Berry brain/British Summer Fruits/Red Brick Road
A giant brain made out of berry punnets? What better way to launch the newest campaign from British Summer Fruits, which aims to link berries with brainpower and target busy professionals. The team from Red Brick Road has favoured such stunts in recent years – see last year’s zany display of levitating strawberries in a prominent London M&S store.
Impact: 4/5. Good visuals, the giant brain and presence of TV presenter Rachel Riley caught the public’s attention, with punters encouraged to take a selfie.
Avocadoman/ProHass/Red Communications
Delivering new-season Peruvian avocados via a superhero was never going to go down badly, and this new concept from Red Communications and trade body ProHass generated some decent social media coverage. It was about time a produce campaign capitalised on soaring demand for avos in the UK, and this dynamic start to the season certainly raised the game.
Impact: 3/5. Eye-catching but with a relatively small audience, this stunt is a sign of renewed interest in UK PR from the Peruvian trade body.
Zorbing with Jaffa citrus/Mehadrin-AMT Fruit/The Little Big Voice
Uniting citrus with a giant inflatable ball, the Jaffa citrus campaign certainly ticks all the boxes for experiential marketing and fits neatly within the wider year-round campaign. Another of its most eye-catching components – giveaways at London’s busiest train stations to promote the start of Spanish citrus alongside AMT Fruit – ensures the orange fruit remains front of mind at crucial times of the season.
Impact: 3/5. Colourful and creative, with strong coverage and timing for key events.
The Great British Asparafeast/British Asparagus/Pam Lloyd
The prize for the first-ever crowdfunded industry dinner went to British asparagus this year, with its well-marketed and foodie-orientated dinner held in Bristol. Attended by consumer and trade journalists, bloggers, Instagram bigwigs, growers and suppliers, the dinner aimed to celebrate and shout about the start of the British asparagus season.
Impact: 3/5. Social media coverage was high due to the nature of guests, but better retail support would have helped the longevity of this innovative event.
Emoji sponsorship/Various
New for 2016, several produce firms jumped at the chance to be associated with their relevant emoji and the social media profile that supposedly comes with it. Zespri, Avocados from Mexico, USA Pears and S&A Group have all bought sponsorships from the emoji standards coordinator Unicode Consortium. Other than a certificate and an engraved thank-you gift, companies have their name and a link placed next to their chosen emoji on the Unicode Consortium website.
Impact: 2/5. The potential must be vast, although the emojis themselves don’t display any obvious connection to the sponsors when used by the general public, meaning marketing must be done externally.
Power of Pink/Pink Lady/MCG PR
Not content with marketing purely to foodies, leading produce brand Pink Lady this year entered into a new sphere with a new campaign targeting the lifestyle and beauty sectors. Pink Lady paint was offered up to inspire ‘positive’ interiors, while a tie-up with a beauty brand created makeup looks to replicate the blush of a Pink Lady apple.
Impact: 3/5. Hats off for taking produce into a new arena.
Best of the rest
Many brands, campaigns and products have realised the power that going viral can give to their marketing efforts. FPJ selects some of the most innovative stunts from outside the sector that caused that all-important online buzz.
Carlsberg won hearts, minds and thirsty fans with its beer-dispensing billboard, proving the eternal power of the freebie. Celery and carrot batons from a poster, anyone?
‘Emoji people’, spotted wandering around London (actors wearing emojis on their heads), turned out to be the brainchild of TalkTalk, promoting its new wesbite to ‘test your emoji IQ’.
A PR campaign for the NHS persuaded brands, publications and famous street signs to drop the As, Bs and Os from their names to encourage the public to give blood and ‘fill in the g_ps’.
Little-known US meat brand Perky Jerky reached thousands of new consumers through one very simple, very weird idea: the ‘Jerk Man Suit’ was a 30-pound costume made from velcro and 400 bags of Perky Jerky. Over four years the suit built up awareness and prompted 40,000 new listings.
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