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Beerenberg
Leading Beerenberg customers down the Provenance Pathway.
The situation. As a relative “minnow” in national retail circles, gourmet jam and condiment producer Beerenberg has faced a significant challenge both with consumers and stockists in competing with - and differentiating itself from - the marketing efforts of multi-national competitors.
In 2008, the company made the decision to focus its marketing effort on a World Wide Web-led communication program, strongly supported by public relations.
The company’s renewed website – www.beerenberg.com.au – responds to an increasing consumer desire for ‘authentic’ food and the growth in the number of food websites and blogs, spearheaded by its unique Provenance Pathway feature which allows Beerenberg customers to trace the origins of ingredients used in their product, while also meeting the chef responsible for its production.
Objectives. The goal of the campaign was to create positive national awareness of the Beerenberg brand, highlighting its transparency and its focus on using Australian grown produce.
Objectives of all communication, set by Hughes Public Relations and Beerenberg, were to:
- Increase visits to the Beerenberg website leading to marketing of the Beerenberg brand to a wider audience;
- Increase Beerenberg’s reputation as an Australian-made family-owned company;
- Assist in securing shelf space in Woolworths and Coles supermarkets nationally;
- Enhance the reputation of Beerenberg as a premium food manufacturer;
- Position Beerenberg as Australia’s leading producer of premium Australian-made jams and condiments through the promotion of the company’s heritage, values and quality products;
- Increase brand recognition in the Eastern States where Beerenberg has been less well- known.
Elements. A proactive media publicity program was developed and rolled out as part of the strategy. A key component of this program was targeting leading food bloggers, news and ‘innovation’ websites to electronically spread the news of Beerenberg’s newly launched Provenance Pathway.
The launch of Beerenberg’s renewed website and the Provenance Pathway took place on March 2, 2009. In the two months prior to this date Hughes Public Relations contacted the top 50 food bloggers in Australia to identify those who were open to receiving further communication and samples from Beerenberg. Those who expressed interest in Beerenberg were then sent some further information and some samples to introduce them to the Beerenberg brand.
Two days before the launch date, a news release and a sample of Beerenberg Strawberry Jam, were sent to those identified on the target media lists, including food bloggers, along with instructions on how to use the Provenance Pathway tool. The sample of Strawberry Jam ensured each journalist had a Beerenberg jar on hand to try out the Provenance Pathway tool for themselves.
The newly developed website and the Provenance Pathway served as a sales tool and a point of difference for Beerenberg during the review process by the major supermarket chains with Hughes Public Relations developing a presentation folder containing all the media coverage for use at sales presentations.
The success of the communication program was monitored through traffic to the Beerenberg website, product sales and the success of Beerenberg’s move to gain shelf space for its products in Coles and Woolworths stores nationally.
Outcome. The proactive media publicity program resulted in widespread print and online/web-based coverage. The audience reached with 15 print articles alone was over 1.8 million with an additional 22 online/blogs covering the launch.
Visits to Beerenberg’s website doubled in the week following the launch of the new website and Provenance Pathway tool and have remained higher than prior to the launch. The use of blogs to spread the news also resulted in substantial feedback from consumers to Beerenberg with all responses being extremely positive towards the new Provenance Pathway tool.
Shortly after the launch Beerenberg gained shelf space for five of its jams in Woolworths stores nationally along with its Tomato Chutney and Caramelised Onion in 560 stores nationally – effectively doubling its sales base outside South Australia. Coles also agreed to take three Beerenberg dressings into 540 stores nationally.
