Amid Australia's cost-of-living crisis, Australian Organic Food Co (AOFCo) faced stagnant growth, challenged by major supermarkets prioritising their own, lower-cost, home-brands. By targeting convenience retailers like WHSmith in airports and transit hubs with an integrated campaign, AOFCo sought to open doors for new stocking opportunities. They leveraged the rise of artificial influencers amidst the AI buzz, inviting them to become Artificial Taste Testers. The inability of these influencers to actually taste organic food became the campaign's centerpiece, showcased across various media platforms. This strategic pivot yielded partnerships with 60+ new stockists, driving growth through a creative B2B strategy.

MARKETING CONDITIONS

Premium organic food brands like Australian Organic Food Co have experienced consistent growth over the past decade. However, this growth has halted in recent years due to Australia's significant inflation crisis. Hartman’s 2022 organic report suggests that this crisis prompts consumers to reconsider their spending habits, leading to increased price comparisons and shopping adjustments. Research by Deakin University’s Associate Professor Kathryn Backholer and Christina Zorbas reveals that food prices in Australia peaked in December 2022, with average shopping baskets costing 9.2% more than in 2021. While prices have slightly decreased since then, they remain considerably higher than pre-pandemic levels. Healthy foods have seen particularly steep price increases, almost doubling compared to discretionary (unhealthy) foods. In Australia, supermarkets have the authority to set prices with minimal transparency and do so ruthlessly to promote their own brands over independent brands, contributing to a lack of competition within the grocery sector. AOFCo faced these challenges as they endeavoured to expand their retail presence and increase their potential customer base.

CULTURAL CONDITIONS

Once upon a time, organic was king. But for the first time ever in 2023, Google searches for ‘Artificial’ surpassed those for ‘Organic’. The whole world was talking about what artificial intelligence can do. The influencer marketing space was no different, as we saw the rapid increase in artificial influencers like Lil Miquela. These influencers aren't real people made of flesh and blood, but programmed beings made of code and pixels. So, while they look real, they can't actually eat.

SITUATION

AOFCo faced a dilemma: they needed to expand their retailer partnerships to reach more customers. However, with Australia grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, consumers shifted towards lower-cost brands, impacting the organic market's growth. This trend prompted Australian supermarkets, with significant market dominance, to prioritise their own-brand organic products, undercutting brands like AOFCo.

BRIEF

AOFCo wanted to enhance brand appeal among consumers to attract new retailers. We specifically targeted convenience retailers situated in high traffic airport and transit hubs, the goal was to ensure AOFCo's top-of-mind presence during negotiations to stock the brand.

OBJECTIVES

- Increase consumer awareness and engagement.

- Expand the number of retailers stocking the brand, with a focus on convenience retailers in high-traffic areas.

- Ultimately, grow AOFCo's customer base.

In the organic food sector, brands often utilise 'authentic' influencers to endorse their natural products. However, a staggering 96% of consumers lack trust in these influencers.

Amidst the hype surrounding AI, we discerned an opportunity in its limitations - tasting our organic food. Through a recruitment competition, we sought artificial influencers as Artificial Taste Testers, knowing their artificial taste buds couldn't perceive our products.

After reaching out via social media ads and DMs, we turned down human applicants, instead offering free samples. Selected artificial influencers joined us in the studio, where their inability to taste our products became the centerpiece of an integrated campaign across film, OOH, social media, in-store displays, and as “stamps of disapproval” on tens of thousands of packs.

By demonstrating that artificial beings couldn't do, we reassured human customers of our 100% organic quality and presented a compelling argument for retailers to stock our brand.

The Australian Organic Food Company faced challenges in expanding their retail presence due to the dominance of major supermarkets like Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, and Metcash. These retailers, empowered by Australia's cost-of-living crisis, prioritise their own brands, often undercutting premium organic brands like AOFCo.

To counter this, AOFCo shifted focus to retailers beyond the supermarket oligopoly, targeting convenience outlets like WHSmith in airports and transit hubs. On average, 6.2 million people pass through Australian airports every month, looking for something healthy to eat before the very artificial airline food. Through an integrated campaign, AOFCo aimed to boost brand engagement among consumers and and open the door to conversations with retailers.

This strategic approach allowed AOFCo to tap into new avenues, away from the stronghold of major supermarkets, facilitating potential growth and market expansion.

We executed the campaign in three phases:

PHASE 1 - RECRUITMENT: Recruitment ads were aimed at artificial influencers, inviting them to apply for the role of official Artificial Taste Testers through social media ads and DMs. Human applicants were respectfully declined, with free samples offered instead, a clever sampling approach that fostered engagement on social.

PHASE 2 - AUDITIONS: Social videos were created, presenting as audition tapes in our meta-studio. As anticipated the Artificial Influencers couldn’t detect any taste, highlighting our commitment to 100% organic quality.

PHASE 3 - TARGETED AMPLIFICATION: The inability of the Artificial Influencers to taste our products became the focal point of an integrated campaign, spanning film, OOH, social media, in-store displays, and on-pack promotions. Targeted media buys ensured our presence in and around desired retail environments reiterating that if artificial influencers can’t taste our food, our human customers know it’s 100% organic.

The failure of the Artificial Taste Testers turned into a B2B success story for Australian Organic Food Co. Our objectives were to:

1) Increase consumer awareness and engagement.

The campaign achieved 12x the category engagement rate, and a 315% increase in social impressions compared to our average.

2) Expand the number of retailers stocking the brand, with a focus on convenience retailers in high-traffic transit hubs.

60+ new stockists since launch, including a new partnership with WHSmith which has a retail footprint of over 50 stores in Australia.

3) Grow Australian Organic Food Co. customer base.

The new stockists has meant that Australian Organic Food Co. has increased its customer base by 10.8 million potential new customers.