The Hawke's Bay company behind a miniature apple, which has taken the global fruit market by storm, has won a major Asian marketing award.
Rockit Global Ltd (RGL) has had exponential growth in the highly competitive snack sector around the world with its Rockit apple, with China accounting for around 50 percent of its global sales.
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At the Asia Fruit Awards in Hong Kong, RGL has won Marketing Campaign of the Year for 2019 for its promotion of the apples in China.
The campaign included a wide range of promotional activities, including marketing focused around Children's Day on 1 June.
Two "store takeovers" saw Rockit create an apple theme in Pagoda fruit stores and the company also created an opportunity to retail online through the New Zealand Food Basket alliance.
The Asia Fruit Awards judges praised the company for executing a campaign which they said appealed directly to the target demographics of mums and children, as well as busy young professionals.
They also commended the tagline Rockit developed for the Chinese market - which roughly translates to "this little goodness you can hold."
Rockit Global Limited CEO Austin Mortimer said considerable effort had been spent tailoring messaging to ensure cut-through in China's competitive fresh fruit market.
"We worked with a Chinese agency to help us align our story, tell it effectively and engage with our key customers in a meaningful way," he said.
"Feedback has been incredibly positive, from customers - who love our delicious, miniature, fully mature fruit - to retailers, who saw the campaign brought to life through clever brand positioning, all in Mandarin," said Mortimer.
John Hey of Asiafruit magazine said the dynamic campaign had helped to position Rockit apples as "an aspirational lifestyle brand".
In August RGL unveiled plans for a new state-of-the-art headquarters and post-harvest building in Hawke's Bay.
It aims to open the new 21,000m2 facility in advance of the 2021 apple harvest.
Newshub.
