The following is a reflection of the case study on the PR campaign for Beerenberg Coopers Ale Barbecue Sauce, nominated for the Golden Target Awards, which is an Australian award recognising "excellence, best practice and professionalism in public relations" (Public Relations Institute of Australia, 2010). This case study can be obtained from: http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/gta/?page=show&id=808
Goals of public relations campaign:
1. To establish Beerenberg Coopers Ale Barbecue Sauce (a product made through the cooperation of Coopers Brewery and Berenberg Farm) as the one and only Australian barbecue sauce.
2. Targeted average sales of 6 bottles/week in Coles supermarket, which already stocks the product.
3. To raise the product's profile so other retailers will also want to sell it.
4. Through this, enhance the reputation of Coopers Brewery and Beerenberg Farm as producers of excellent product.
5. Beerenberg is popular in South Australia; this campaign was to raise its profile so it would become widely accepted throughout the country.
*related to objectives 4 and 5 was a thrust in emphasising upon Beerenberg's heritage and company values.
Insight (gained from research)
An insight gained by Hughes Public Relations, the company contracted for the campaign, was that there were many barbecue sauces on the market, but none used beer as the main ingredient. This was therefore the main differentiating point for Beerenberg Coopers Ale Barbecue Sauce and the strategy for the campaign focused on it and the values of both producers as mentioned above.
Strategy
A few target audiences were selected, and the campaign primed to reach out to these groups:- Food journalists
- Highly-educated, reasonably wealthy females who are the main grocery buyers
- Male consumers aged 30 and above (likely to use the barbecue sauce at barbecues, with beer)
- Retailers (1) Food journalists were the initial target audience of the campaign, whose strategy was to get them to become more aware of the Beerenberg brand, thus accomplishing objective 5. This would pave the way for the launch of the Barbecue Sauce later.
(2) To achieve objective 3 and 5, the Barbecue Sauce was launched at the Fine Foods event in Sydney. This was an event for businesses in the food and hospitality industry to gain attention, network and to launch new products.
(3) Beerenberg also set up a stall at the Tasting Australia event in Adelaide. This bi-annual event, open to the public, showcases what Australia has to offer in F&B. Apart from the food and hospitality industry, local and international media and the public could also participate in this. By participating in Tasting Australia, objectives 1, 2 and 4 were met.
(4) Finally, to cover all objectives and outreach to the media, the Barbecue Sauce had a media launch in three cities (Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide). Many food journalists were based in Melbourne and Sydney so the choice of those two cities was logical. Adelaide was chosen also because both Coopers and Beerenberg had been well-established there, this was to maintain their image in home base.
Tactics
In the two months leading to the launch of the Barbecue Sauce (1), a Beerenberg product and a letter were delivered to the targeted food journalists so as to familiarise them with the brand.
At the Fine Foods event (2), a barbecue was held with food samples served with the Barbecue Sauce. This sampling allowed other industry participants to find out what the new product was like and to decide (for retailers) whether to put this product on their shelves. The Managing Director, Anthony Paech, was personally involved in this event which showed how important this product was to the companies involved.
Being at the Tasting Australia event (3), which over 20000 people visited, was good publicity for the Beerenberg brand and the Barbecue Sauce. It was a great chance for them to reach out to the public regarding this new product. Also, Hughes Public Relations liaised with the Tasting Australia organisers to increase Beerenberg's visibility, through promoting the brand and the Barbecue Sauce at events linked to Tasting Australia, allowing Beerenberg jams to be used at the Hyatt Hotel in Adelaide where members of the media were staying during Tasting Australia and including Beerenberg publicity material as well as a bottle of the Baebecue Sauce in the media packs.
The tactic used for strategy (4) was to have the media launches over a gourmet barbecue lunch where influential food journalists were served with food and the Barbecue Sauce. Guests were thus able to sample the sauce over lunch and even bring home a bottle. Also, a news release was written for distribution along with CDs containing images of the Coopers Ale Barbeque Sauce. Media packs, were also sent to those who were unable to attend. In addition, interviews with financial papers such as the Australian Financial Review were provided for; this generated articles with a corporate viewpoint which attracted the interest of retailers.
Evaluation
As a succesful PR campaign nominated for the Golden Target Awards, all objectives were successfully met as can be seen from the case study. More sales were recorded, and Woolsworths, another supermarket chain, has decided to carry the product. The national media coverage generated a lot of positive stories and lifted the profile of Beerenberg (and Cooper) nation-wide. Export discussions were also under way with distributors in America.
From this case study, I have realised that a PR campaign has to be carefully planned and thought out, and works best when as many facets as possible are covered. What Ms. Wilson said about the effects being obtained free/at low cost were particularly evident, because little cost was spent on advertising and the success or failure of the campaign was wholly dependent on the public relations effort. We definitely need more training to be able to succinctly identify the various goals, insights gained, strategies and tactics used in PR campaigns, and must have a good sense of critical thinking to evaluate its effects.
This marks the end of the case study reflection.
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