The Campaign

The agency was commissioned to develop and manage a PR strategy by the Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL). The brief required the agency to address the period of production oversupply being faced by egg farmers across the country. It also needed to fit within the current marketing approach, which was to educate consumers about the nutritional value, ease and versatility of cooking with eggs The goal of the campaign was to help drive demand for eggs around the oversupply period. Therefore the objectives were to: — Generate broad awareness of eggs by securing positive media coverage with a reach of 2.6 million audience impressions. — Raise the profile of eggs as a fast, versatile, easy and nutritious food option The key target audience was media that would reach a mass consumer audience. The agency developed an ambassador strategy at the heart of which was an extremely engaging and entertaining egg expert. As well as securing pieces in traditionally popular media outlets, the visually stimulating and video content driving cooking demonstrations proved to be an overwhelming success in the online arena. The tour resulted in extensive coverage with over 50 pieces of media coverage (42% more than the KPI) and 25.6 million audience impressions (about ten times our KPI). It also resulted in an unseasonal spike in egg consumption equating to approximately 2 million more eggs sold nationally.

The Brief

The goal of the campaign was to help drive demand for eggs around the oversupply period. Therefore the objectives were to: — Generate broad awareness of eggs by securing positive media coverage with a reach of 2.6 million audience impressions. — Raise the profile of eggs as a fast, versatile, easy and nutritious food option The key target audience was media that would reach a mass consumer audience. A review of past campaigns, as well as the current media appetite for cooking and interest in food ambassadors was conducted prior to the development of PR recommendations.

Results

Howard was a fantastic ambassador who was able to deliver the key messages around eggs in an extremely engaging and entertaining way. As well as securing pieces in traditionally popular media outlets such as TV and print, the visually stimulating and video content driving cooking demonstrations proved to be an overwhelming success in the online arena. The Howard Helmer media tour resulted in extensive coverage including: — Two pieces of national TV coverage (breakfast and morning programs) — 11 pieces of radio coverage (breakfast and morning programs) — Five pieces of print coverage (including a front cover of a metro newspaper supplement) — 26 pieces of online coverage (including several video stories on major online news sites) Overall, we secured: - Over 50 pieces of media coverage (42% more than the KPI) - About 25.6 million audience impressions (about ten times our KPI) - All coverage was positive and all included at least one key message - As well as an unseasonal spike in egg consumption equating to approximately 2 million more eggs.

Execution

The agency engaged the ambassador for a period of one week for a national media tour with stops in six cities (Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth, Hobart and Melbourne). The tour schedule was developed to incorporate stops in cities where there was a strong likelihood of media opportunities, as well as a concentration of egg farmers. It needed to be strategic on the placement of each stop as the national media needed to be reached first to avoid missing any exclusive opportunities. However, for this reason, the schedule needed to be flexible in order to be able to accommodate any substantial media requests. Prior to the tour commencement, we developed a plan on media angles that would be suitable for a broad range of media targets across broadcast, online and print. This also included visual and interactive cooking demonstrations, videography and photography, recipe development and cooking tips.

The Situation

The agency was commissioned to develop and manage a PR strategy by the Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL), an organisation responsible for research and development, policy services and marketing for the national egg industry. AECL represents approximately 370 commercial egg farmers who distribute a range of products to the local market including barn-laid, cage and free range eggs. The brief required the agency to address the period of production oversupply being faced by egg farmers across the country. It also needed to fit within the current marketing approach, which was to educate consumers about the nutritional value, ease and versatility of cooking with eggs.

The Strategy

The national media (and consumers) love quirky stories about people doing interesting things. Therefore, we engaged an entertaining and charismatic international egg ambassador who would attract the attention of a wide range of media, while educating people on the versatility and ease of cooking eggs. The agency engaged Howard Helmer, the World’s Fastest Omelette Maker (as named by the Guinness Book of World Records for cooking 427 two-egg omelettes in 30 minutes). Howard is an internationally renowned ‘eggspert’ with an exuberant and quirky personality who has extensive experience spreading messages around eggs. His unique ability would capture the attention of mainstream media that would not normally talk about cooking eggs, while his extensive egg nutrition and omelette-cooking repertoire was of interest to food and health media. We developed a national media tour that involved us visiting key cities across the country to generate strong media interest for a short period of time.