New face behind national retail program By James Patrick, National Program Manager, A better choice!
A joint initiative of Fresh Markets Australia (FMA) and the Central Markets Association of Australia (CMAA), the A better choice! (ABC) program is designed to encourage consumers to shop for fresh produce at their local independent retailer and I have recently taken on the role as ABC’s National Program Manager. FMA and CMAA have worked hand-inhand with industry to establish a strong digital presence and point of sale roll-out to retailers across all states. A National Retail Program Marketing Committee comprised of marketing representatives from state chambers and market landlords continue to have an overarching responsibility for the conduct of all marketing campaigns. Three national campaigns were developed and delivered throughout
2020, with the ‘Go To Those Who Know’ campaign running from March to May, the ‘Veg Into Winter’ campaign running from June to August, and the recently completed ‘Spring Fresh’ campaign that ran from September to November. These campaigns featured national radio advertising, influencers, social media advertising and retailer point of sale merchandise. Some states took the opportunity to build on the campaigns with local extended channels utilising their promotions budgets including television advertising and expanded radio and digital coverage. In addition to the campaigns, the digital presence continued to be built with bespoke recipe development, blog articles and ‘always on’ social media with paid advertising and organic posts.
Website development continues with the aim to build the user experience to bring to life the call to action – shopping at your local fruit and veg shop is A better choice! A three-year, fully costed, national brand and marketing plan has been established to build on the learnings from the past two years. It consists of activities that provide a clear direction for the execution of marketing on a national scale. The strategic framework aims to deliver two annual ownable buying occasions and uses advocates to help amplify the buying occasions. Social and digital media will continue as they stand out as the core channels to deliver costeffective consumer reach to convey our call to action.
Campaign results from January to June 2020
14 million consumers reached on social media
30 FRESH SOURCE
Summer 2020
225k
website sessions
175k
Facebook followers
