Big things to come

Big things to come for

A whole lot of work went into the A Better Choice Campaign in 2019. Now already two months into 2020, you can finally see what the months of planning were all about. Over the past year, the A Better Choice Victorian Committee have been working together to get the ball rolling on the first big launch for A Better Choice here in Victoria.

You may be aware that towards the end of 2019, Fresh State and the Melbourne Market Authority worked together on the A Better Choice program, and recruited two retailers and two wholesalers to join the Victorian committee. This committee has full control over the decisions concerning both the directional and financial aspects of the A Better Choice campaign in Victoria and will represent all Victorian retail members of the program. The two retailers who joined the committee are and will work closely with the committee and provide input from a retailer’s perspective to help ensure the overall success of A Better Choice. In October/November 2019, the Victorian committee met to create an advertising campaign that was to be deployed between January and April across the state. Several platforms were discussed, and the TV commercial was settled on as the way to best engage our audience. And then came our first big rollout of the A Better Choice TV commercial, which was aired during the Australian Open tennis tournament within January and February, on Channel 9. Over 1000 commercials were aired on the metro and regional TV throughout Victoria. The campaign aims to encourage the consumer to “go to those who know.” It communicates that your independent greengrocers and independent supermarkets offer the best in service, knowledge, and in fresh produce from wholesalers and growers at the Melbourne Market. Mangoes and tomatoes were the in-season produce featured in the commercial. Filming for the TV commercial took place in the Market on the Buyers’ Walk between the 2nd and 3rd of January. You may have also seen signage rolled out on the Trading Floor and on the Buyers’ Walk that promotes the campaign and profiles of some of our members. There’s no better time than now to be a part of A Better Choice. Victoria is currently leading the way in Australia, with 176 retail stores signed up. Our ultimate aim in 2019 and early 2020. was to increase brand awareness of A Better Choice amongst retailers, consumers, and wholesalers. During October 2019, the National Marketing Guiding Committee met in Melbourne for a strategic workshop. Members of the committee explored the objectives for the program for the next 12 months and beyond. These objectives consisted of targets for the new year and included rolling out a national campaign that will be in the works during February 2020. We have plans to continue our TV commercial campaign into 2020. Victoria is leading the way in plans for our campaign to be rolled out nationally. As you can see there are big things to come for A Better Choice, so there is no better time than now to be a part of the movement. If you have any feedback or questions about the A Better Choice program, feel free to send an email to abetterchoice@ melbournemarket.com.au.