The background and objectives of your campaign:

This paper demonstrates how Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit sung and danced its way into Aussie hearts, minds, and homes.

But before we get there, we need to go back to 2020, when a third-party research report stated that, without intervention, the brand was “unlikely to grow”.[1] This was for two key reasons:

1. A price disadvantage. When you consider that a Royal Gala Apple, for example, costs $0.48, while a Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit is often $1.50, it’s small wonder that research showed that Aussies thought the Zespri was “overpriced”.[2]
2. A lack of awareness. The same report showed that Zespri only had 5% unaided awareness.[3] This was less than a third of what, for example, Pink Lady, Australian Bananas, and Aussie Apples had at the time.

These factors meant that the brand hit a ceiling of 19% household penetration,[4] and yearly sales of $48.9M.[5]

To unlock growth, we undertook two key steps.

First, we strategically pivoted to a strategy around taste. This was a key category growth driver and Australians were surprised to learn that Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit has a surprisingly sweet taste. This was unlike the more characteristically tart taste of the more well-known green kiwifruit.

Second, we invested in the creation of a long-term brand platform — “Crazy Tasty”. This campaign spotlighted our brand mascots — the Zespri KiwiBrothers — in all their technicolour, surround-sound glory, as they sung (and danced to) a tune declaring how crazy tasty they were.

This fully integrated campaign has not only gone across channels (TV, online video, social, radio, in-store, and packaging), but over time too, receiving continued investment from 2021 – 2024.

 

The results you achieved:

The results have been as spectacular as the KiwiBrothers’ musical prowess. Let’s look at a range of results.

Objective 1: Grow penetration from 19% in 2020.

Result: Achieved and exceeded, with household penetration levels in 2024 sitting at a record high of 22.9%.[6] 

Objective 2: Grow values sales from $48.9M in 2020.

Result: Achieved and exceeded, with 2024 being the best year ever at $100.2M in value sales. In 2024, value sales grew +65% v 2023. Over the run of Crazy Tasty, sales have grown a phenomenal 105.1%.[7]

To date, this has been our most successful campaign ever, with 2024 being our best year ever.

The approach and key activities you implemented:

To grow penetration, we opted for a ‘Paint the Town Gold’ approach. We utilised high-reach channels, including TV, online video, social media and radio.

This enabled us to reach the most people with our taste message.

We also front-weighted our media investment to coincide with the beginning of the Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit season, to give ourselves the best chance of forming strong memory structures (and thus awareness) earlier in the season, to drive a steady pull through of sales throughout the year.

 

Any lessons or insights you’d like to share with the marketing community:

One of the most effective brand assets available to marketers is also one of the least utilised: brand characters.[8]

Research has shown that characters generate “larger and longer effects, including penetration gain and reductions in price sensitivity”.[9] This is because “it’s much easier for consumers to essentially engage with you if a long-term character is present. They automatically create a mental shortcut.”[10]

With a central issue holding the brand back being awareness, the ability to give the brand a face, a voice, and a personality was key.

Further, central to the campaign’s success has been our continued investment into the Zespri KiwiBrothers for 4 years (and counting). With more marketing activity being short-term oriented, and having increasingly short shelf lives,[11] we opted for a long-term approach to growing our brand and our sales.

 

[1] Kantar, Zespri brand tracking, ‘Building the Zespri Kiwifruit brand, Australia’, September 2020.

[2] Kantar, Zespri brand tracking, ‘Building the Zespri Kiwifruit brand, Australia’, September 2020.

[3] ibid.

[4] Nielsen, ‘Homescan Shopper Panel’, NZ Kiwifruit season, May to October, 2020.

[5] Zespri COPA tray sales.

[6] Nielsen, ‘Homescan Shopper Panel’, NZ Kiwifruit season, May to October, 2020 – 2024.

[7] Zespri COPA tray sales, 2020 to 2024.

[8] Ipsos, ‘The Power of You: Why distinctive brand assets are a driving force of creative effectiveness’, February 2020.

[9] S. Whiteside, “Brand characters boost the effectiveness of TV ads”, WARC, May 2019.

[10] ibid.

[11] P. Field, ‘Selling Creativity Short: Creativity and Effectiveness Under Threat’, IPA, 2016.