Organic Trade Board launches new consumer campaign - Organic, naturally different

14 May 2012

After a successful year for Why I Love Organic, the organic industry today announced their Year 2 plans which will continue to increase awareness of the benefits of organic food and farming and grow the current rate of organic sales.

The campaign launches today and will build on the foundations laid in Year 1. Objectives for Year 2 of the three year programme will focus on growing organic sales through a high profile above the line media campaign. It aims to drive an uplift in sales by increasing frequency of purchase among those who are conscious but infrequent organic buyers as well as encouraging heavyweight purchasers of organic to become passionate advocates. If each 'occasional' buyer spends £10 more per year we will get an uplift in sales of £26 million. The year 2 campaign, ‘Organic, naturally different’ has a single-minded message focusing on naturalness. This focus will be translated into hard-hitting and disruptive activities including a combination of above the line, digital advertising, social media and PR.

The creative approach for the 'Organic, naturally different' campaign has been driven by research indicating that many people don’t understand the difference between organic and non-organic and therefore struggle to make a conscious decision to purchase. The edgy and humorous creative communicates the message that organic food is food as it should be, less fake and naturally different. The warm and down-to-earth conversational tone aims to explain to consumers the natural benefits of organic by highlighting the unnatural treatments of non-organic produce.

The campaign launches today with 48-sheet crosstrack posters in key central London underground stations and is supported by digital advertising and a new facebook app – Why Choose Organic, designed to drive likes, engagement and sharing. There are also media partnerships with Mumsnet and Tesco Real Food. PR activity includes a Question Time-style organic debate hosted by John Craven with an organic dinner for guests created by Kerstin Rodgers, more widely known as ‘MsMarmiteLover’, who has been the driving force behind the underground restaurant movement in the UK and writes the successful blog, ‘The English Can Cook’.

Catherine Fookes, Campaign Manager from Sustain, commented, "This new campaign hones in on what makes organic food important to the individual. Our research shows people choose organic for the benefits it offers them and that’s why we’re focusing on naturalness. We’re really pleased with the reaction we’ve had from retailers and we are taking the campaign onto their websites with ads and recipe partnerships. Our Mumsnet partnership is also new and means we get right to the heart of our audience – Mum’s."

Anna Rosier, Chair of the Organic Trade Board said "We’re all dealing with tough economic conditions, and organic is certainly no exception.  The ‘Organic, naturally different’ campaign is confident, noisy and humorous and we know it’s going to help deliver the growth in sales the organic sector wants, as well as getting people debating organic."

Notes

• About the Organic Trade Board - The Organic Trade Board (OTB) is a trade body run by industry, for industry. It is a not-for-profit organisation made up of over 140 companies who want to share the benefits of organic and change the perception of the organic industry in the UK. The Organic Trade Board has collectively pledged £300,000 per year, which the EU has agreed to match. The total budget for the three year campaign is £1.8m
   
• About Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming - The charity Sustain submitted the bid to the EU on behalf of the organic industry and is now responsible for managing the campaign.
   
• About the Campaign – Organic, naturally different - The campaign, which consists of a combination of advertising, PR and digital marketing, will run for a three year period, from January 2011 – October 2013. We want consumers to understand the benefits of organic, what it means and why it is worth paying a little bit extra. It is all about democratising organic and making it more relevant to people’s everyday lives, with the ultimate aim of driving sales.
  
  Ads are running across a number of London underground and mainline railway station sites and are supported by additional outdoor amplification.  The ads feature different foods ‘talking’ to each other about enhancing treatments they have had or have chosen not to have, in the latter case, because they are organic, and explaining why they prefer to go ‘natural’.
  
  Social media activity has been up-weighted for year 2 of the campaign and includes a new facebook app – Why Choose Organic which will run regular competitions designed to generate an increased number of likes supported by regularly refreshed content to drive engagement and sharing.
  
  PR activity will help to raise awareness with recipe-led media relations as well as media and blogger events.
  
  A website (www.organicukfood.com) has also been created that showcases the benefits of organic food, features up to date news and recipe suggestions.  The site also provides a forum for consumers to express and share their views and reasons for loving organic, and is complemented by the campaign Facebook and Twitter pages.