The Campaign

Australia is a country bound by legislation. Despite our laidback social culture, Australia is politically very conservative, especially when it comes to content and entertainment in the food category. Complaints are commonplace, which means that commercials – both on air and online – are often pulled for next to no reason. It makes it extremely difficult for brands to create truly powerful and compelling content that resonates with the entire Australian community. For SPC to create content of this nature – deeply emotional and highly motivating – that hit a nerve with millions of families all over Australia, was no small feat.

Results

Due to a batch of contaminated imports, Australia was in the grip of a Hepatitis outbreak. This caused nationwide alarm about country of origin food labelling. While the nation debated and the FMCG category did nothing, only one company was willing to act. Australia’s largest fruit processor (SPC) went to extraordinary lengths to show the nation precisely where their food is from. And more importantly, who grows it. We used the thing at the heart of the issue – the labelling – and overhauled SPC’s most iconic Australian brands to galvanise the nation with a heartwarming initiative called #MyFamilyCan. In a massive undertaking, we dedicated the company’s most valuable advertising real estate to Australian farming families. 4 million cans of SPC’s biggest brands subsequently went home to millions of households and ignited a nationwide labelling conversation. Then we triggered a surge of support from families all over Australia. We launched a highly emotional film, TV spots at big Australian events, a substantial PR drive and nationwide POS collateral, then activated the nation socially with swathes of ‘branded’ content led by families, not brands. What we did on shelf was now happening online and all around the country. To cement the legacy of #MyFamilyCan, we honoured the families who showed support socially with a real family tree in the farmers’ orchards, which will grow SPC fruit for generations to come.

By dedicating 4 million cans to farming families we converted SPC’s most valuable real estate into an educational media space. Consumers no longer scoured fine print for food they trust. They instinctively bought familiar faces. In a deliberate strategy, the cans themselves drove our content. They went into millions of households and fuelled a nationwide conversation with the real family stories around each can. We continued to activate the nation with ‘branded’ content led by families, not brands. We launched a heartwarming film online and at the ANZAC Day football, watched by millions of patriotic Australians.

What began as a promotion is now becoming permanent across all SPC brands. Due to the overwhelming response a rerun was ordered within 2 days, and it’s now becoming a permanent fixture across the entire SPC range. • Now #1 Australian FMCG brand for engagement. • Engagement 21 times above industry average • 1.2 million direct social interactions • 3.7 million video views • 1 million units sold in first month • Rerun ordered within 2 days • 17% sales uplift With a highly emotional and proudly Australian campaign, #MyFamilyCan paved the way for labelling change and empowered millions of Australians to make the right choice for their family.

At a moment in time when Australians were extremely concerned about the origins of food, we decided to show the nation exactly where their food was coming from. We deliberately overhauled the labels on SPC’s biggest brands to connect Australian families with the farmers who put the food on their table. To do that, we created deeply emotional stories about the Australian farming families we placed on supermarket shelves around the country. #MyFamilyCan had a purpose beyond mere food labelling. We knew that packaging, point of sale, social media and PR weren’t enough to influence Australia’s buying behaviour. We needed to create genuinely Australian material that featured the real people at the down-to-earth roots of this proud agricultural land. Even with the substantial feat of repackaging SPC’s biggest brands on a national scale, this initiative would not have had anywhere near the same impact without the emotive content we developed.