Insight
The challenge facing SPC, Australia’s largest fruit processor and cannery, originated beyond Australian borders. With cheap imports continually flooding the market, it was very difficult to compete in the absence of legislative protection.
Despite being part of Aussie family life for over one hundred years, consumers were easily tempted away from SPC by lower competitor prices, regardless of their origin. The brand insight therefore, was that its local origin point of difference was too hidden to motivate people’s purchasing behaviour. Understandably this had a painful knock-on effect for SPC sales and profitability.
An unexpected set of circumstances provided an opportunity for SPC. A contaminated batch of competitor brand Nanna’s frozen berries (owned by Patties) caused a Hepatitis outbreak, sparking widespread alarm about country of origin food labelling.
“For too long people have been talking about country of origin food labelling, and nothing much has changed.” - Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia (Source: Sky News)
At a time when Australians were extremely sensitive about what they were feeding their families, Leo Burnett deliberately set out to draw the nation into a food labelling conversation.
While the Government deliberated and the category resisted change (Source: ABC News), the marketing challenge was to empower Australian consumers by enabling them to make informed shopping decisions much more easily. In doing so, it was the intention to rally the nation around an initiative that would drive a significant shift in behaviour.
Strategy
The core audience were young Aussie families, defined as parents of children aged less than 11 years old, making up 21% of the total population. With the traditional nuclear households declining in Australia, these families had become increasingly harder to reach.
• Consumer insight: Uncovering the relationship between food origins, consumer power and purchase motivators for Aussie families.
71% of Australians agree it is important to know where your food has come from. Why? Because this knowledge gives them power; the power to choose quality ingredients and the power to support local farmers. The intrinsic link that people hold between the origin and the quality of food however, is not great enough alone for people to always choose SPC at the supermarket shelf. Why? Because price has a 70% impact on grocery choices at the shelf, compared to 25% for the food’s origin. Whilst Australian origins resonated with people’s food values, it did not give them the monetary value they needed at the point of purchase to put SPC in their shopping baskets.
• Communications strategy: Making the shelf the battleground
The agency needed to increase the impact that SPC’s Australian origins would have on people’s choice at the supermarket shelf. Crucially, it needed to present it in a new way that would dial up people’s motivation to choose SPC. To do this, Leo Burnett turned the shelf into the battleground and gave the initiative a purpose beyond packaging design. The strategy was to strengthen consumers’ brand trust enough that they would willingly pay a premium for it.
By connecting Australian families with the families who grow their food, it unlocked a latent emotional bond that resonated around Australia. It created a behavioural and conversational reaction that spread from supermarkets to social media.
Execution
In the wake of the frozen berry scandal, the agency went to extraordinary lengths to show where SPC’s food is from. Focussing on the heart of the issue – the labelling – it overhauled the iconic suite of brands (SPC, Goulburn Valley and Ardmona) to galvanise the nation with an initiative called #MyFamilyCan.
It dedicated SPC’s most valuable real estate to farming families, converting four million cans into four million conversation starters in every major Australian supermarket. Consumers no longer needed to scour fine print to find food they trust. They instinctively reached for familiar faces that went home to millions of households and ignited a nationwide food labelling conversation.
To stimulate the conversation the agency launched a deeply moving branded film. Building off the film’s momentum, it placed families at the forefront of social media real estate. For the first time, SPC brand logos were stripped from social channels and replaced with farmers’ faces – a simple gesture that spoke volumes in the labelling debate.
To cement the #MyFamilyCan legacy, it honoured the families that showed support online by dedicating a real tree in the farmers’ orchards – their very own ‘family tree’ – which will grow SPC fruit for generations to come.
In a deliberate strategy, the cans drove the content. They went into millions of households and fuelled a nationwide debate with the real family stories around each can. Suddenly Australians were passionately discussing food labelling and proudly supporting farming families. At every point the hashtag #MyFamilyCan was designed to be a two-way interaction that drove the marketing objectives.
Results
Initially intended to be a fruit promotion, #MyFamilyCan quickly left its mark on society. Due to the overwhelming response a rerun was ordered within two days, and it is now becoming a permanent fixture across the entire SPC range.
As a result, it smashed the sales uplift objective of 8%, without discounting a cent. One million SPC Family Cans were sold in first month alone - a 17% uplift on the sales target. This positive sentiment rapidly spread from supermarkets to media and Federal Government.
The second objective – to grow the brand conversation, generating 100,000 social interactions with the campaign – was greatly surpassed. The campaign generated 1.2 million direct social interactions - 1,100% greater than the initial target.
During the campaign, the online video received 3.7 million views, 21 times above the industry average. As a result, SPC is now the number one Australian FMCG brand for engagement, not bad for a total campaign expenditure under AU$350,000 ($265,000).
12 weeks on, the Prime Minister unveiled new labelling legislation, which will be compulsory for all products manufactured in Australia – a massive win for the countless Australians who showed support online.
With this emotional packaging platform, #MyFamilyCan empowered millions of Australians and sparked nationwide labelling change. All with a humble can.