Results and Effectiveness

The little kiwi that could - Taiwan engaged with Zespri in a way the brand hadn't seen before. When 50-100 uploads in Taiwan is considered good, Zespri Vital City Competition garnered an amazing 841 videos uploaded to YouTube. Our website not only won over 190,000 visits in just 4 weeks, but received a whopping 40.1% revisit rate (vs. 10-15% market average). Our Kaohsiung celebration event equally outperformed, with over 10,000 participants – more than 3 times what Zespri expected! Ultimately, creating the engagement across Taiwan Zespri was looking for, with brand awareness growing 5+% and frequent buyers increasing + 8%.

Creative Execution

Stepping away from TV, Zespri Vital City launched online – encouraging people to submit Videos on why their city was so strong and why others should support it. We started by “influencing the influencers” - getting 21 famous Taiwanese bloggers to represent their hometown. From blog articles to comics and illustrations, they actively endorsed their cities, inviting followers to participate. Next, we leveraged Facebook pages of these city “tribes” to encourage competition intensity. Different cities shouted propaganda to each other, inviting more and more participants to support and “belong” to their city. As scores continued to grow, fierce competition emerged, especially between Taipei and Kaohsiung. The buzz across social media escalated as participants rallied people to ask their friends for support. In a tense finale, Zespri rewarded the winner – Kaohsiung – with a real-life event on New Year’s Day 2011, allowing them to show Taiwan what vitality truly means.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Eating Zespri Kiwis was historically connected with combating negatives – providing immunity against illness. Zespri moved toward a more positive space from 2009– better vitality. Like Popeye’s spinach, Zespri would be about strength. But while TV campaigns showed functional benefits, Taiwanese consumers were not making the emotional connection to daily life Zespri needed. So we took a new approach, interpreting “Vitality” in a more meaningful way – tapping into the inner strength from “belonging” to your hometown. Alone, Taiwanese tend to be shy, afraid to express opinions openly. However, being part of a group instills a confidence they may not normally have, providing strength and courage. So when something comes up tied to their hometown, they will do their best to support their city. To capitalize on this, we created the Zespri Vital City Competition, inviting all Taiwan to illustrate what “vital” meant to them, sharing stories of their cities.