UK: Organic. Naturally different. consumer campaign

The first Organic. Naturally different. consumer campaign ran from 2010 – 2013 and helped organic sales to return to the UK. Following a successful bid to the EU for 50% match-funding over the next three years, the campaign will continue from 2014 – 2016. It will include a combination of above-the-line, digital advertising, social media and PR. Over 50 companies have already pledged to support the campaign. The fourth year of the campaign was officially launched on 5 May 2014.

The campaign worth £1.4 million (about €1.7 million) will continue to raise awareness of the benefits of organic food and farming in the UK whilst building on the successful foundations laid over the last three years. As revealed in the Soil Association Organic Market Report 2014, sales of organic products in the UK increased by 2.8% in 2013.
(Picture: Raising awareness for organic chocolate)
 

Based on the award winning creative, the new ATL (above the line - advertising via radio, TV, print, etc.). executions will continue to use the campaign’s edgy and humorous creative to communicate its key messages whilst highlighting the benefits of buying organic and showing organic products are different. Bringing to life new categories including bread and chocolate, the two amusing new executions feature identical loaves of bread and bars of chocolate talking to each other and pointing out that the other was not made organically (see pictures above). Both adverts focus on highlighting the campaign’s key messages around pesticide use in organic and non-organic foods.
 

The out-of-home advertising will consist of 48-sheet, 6-sheet and transvision sites throughout Central and Greater London as well as at high footfall commuter railway stations, including Waterloo, Victoria, Kings Cross, and Liverpool Street. (Picture: advert in London)
 

In addition to the creative and media spend, the campaign builds on the successful partnership with the UK’s number 1 food blogger, Karen Burns-Booth of Lavender & Lovage. Karen will help address some of the price perceptions of organic by creating a series of recipes and meal plans that are “Thrifty & Organic”. The recipes and meal plans will urge consumers to pay closer attention to the food they put in their shopping basket by demonstrating the benefits of buying organic products and providing value for the savvy shopper.
(Picture: Lavender & Lovage website)

Catherine Fookes, campaign manager for Organic. Naturally different. explains that they have very ambitious plans, with the main focus to grow organic sales even further. This will be done through a variety of media, including a high profile above the line media campaign, brand ambassadors, recipe development, social media, digital and online partnerships. “We have every confidence that the next three years are as successful as the first three”, she concludes.

The marketing activity aims to drive uplifts 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. More than 50 organisations have pledged money to the campaign, including leading retailers Sainsbury’s and Tesco; big name organic brands such as Green & Black’s, Organix, Rachel’s, Alara and Community Foods; and producer groups such as Organic Farm Foods, Produce World, OMSCo and OLMC. (Picture: advert at MySupermarket.com)

With the past Organic. Naturally different. campaign, 4,900,000 people were reached through ATL. On-line adverts with multiple retailers were run and showed sales uplifts of between 25% - 80%. Currently, there are close to 80,000 Facebook fans. The number of current Twitter followers is 5,477. In the third year of the campaign, 141 pieces of coverage could be found, including in Hello! Magazine, The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mail, among others. (Picture: Organic. Naturally different. on Facebook)

Results from the Leapfrog Evaluation Report May 2013 have shown a 26% prompted awareness of the campaign compared with the industry average of 17%. 78% of all those who have seen the campaign said “it made me want to find out more about organic food”. 58% of all those who have seen the campaign say “I will buy organic in the next fortnight” compared with 35% of those who haven’t. 54% of all tube travellers buy organic at least once per week and 21% buy every fortnight. 74% agree or strongly agree the ads are different from other advertising, and 81% agree or strongly agree that the ads clearly communicate the benefits of organic. (Picture: the campaign in July 2013)

The Organic Trade Board (OTB) is a trade body run by industry for industry. It is a not-for-profit organisation whose sole aim is to grow organic sales. It’s made up of over 120 companies who want to communicate the benefits of organic to consumers. More information is available from their website and from Catherine Fookes. The Organic Trade Board has collectively pledged £270,000 per year to the Organic. Naturally different. campaign. The charity Sustain submitted the bid to the EU on behalf of the organic industry and is now responsible for managing the finances of the campaign. (Picture: Organic Trade Board website) 
 

More information on Organic. Naturally different. is available at www.organicukfood.com, on www.facebook.com/organicuk and Twitter.