The Campaign

A study from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics show that when kids are involved in preparing vegetable dishes, they are more likely to eat them. We created an illustrated book out of the country’s most popular folk song about vegetables, “Bahay Kubo.” Each page was embedded with seeds from locally available vegetables. When planted, the different pages of the book would grow into the 18 different vegetables featured in the song. We piloted the book in Knorr’s feeding program. Before each feeding session, kids would read and sing the book together. They would the plant each page within school premises. Caring for the vegetables continued in the succeeding feeding sessions. In time, the kids harvested the vegetables they learned about. By involving kids in the process of planting, the book became the missing link between feeding kids nutritious food and developing in them healthy eating habits.

Creative Execution

The Seed Book is a plantable book based on the most popular local folk song about vegetables, “Bahay Kubo.” The book is meant to be the educational component in Knorr’s school-based feeding program. We sourced the seeds from local farms and partnered with a supplier to create the eco-friendly seed papers. We designed 18 vegetable characters based on the song, which was printed onto the pages using a manual silk-screen process. The project was piloted during the feeding program at Javalera Elementary School, a public school in the province of Cavite in February 2016. Over the course of 3 months, the kids would participate in a weekly program where they would sing the song, plant a page, and tend to the plants. When the vegetables were ready, the kids were the ones who harvested them too. The project is now scheduled to be rolled out in 64 schools nationwide.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The pilot run of the project involving 81 school kids was a huge success. Participation rate of the kids in the program was at 90%. 100% of the kids ate their vegetables during the feeding program, while 86% finished their plate. After the session, 98% of kids were interested in trying a vegetable they’ve never tasted before. The Bahay Kubo Seed Book now plays an integral role in Knorr’s nationwide program that feeds 600,000 kids. Best of all, with this project, a new generation of kids will now see vegetables as an exciting part of their daily diet.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Knorr envisions a world where each child has regular access to nutritious and flavorful meals. But this is far from reality in the Philippines, where about 4 million children suffer from malnutrition. That is because children prefer instant food, like noodles and chips, which are tasty but lack the necessary nutrients. To introduce a sustainable solution to this problem, Knorr decided to improve the way kids view vegetables. They created an interactive story book which can be planted. The book was introduced in Knorr’s nationwide feeding program which will help 600,000 public school children learn the value of eating vegetables.

Knorr has partner schools under its feeding program for malnourished children. This allowed us to effectively reach the very kids we needed to educate. Traditionally, the feeding program only involved providing balanced meals to alleviate daily hunger. This year, we improved the engagement of the program by incorporating vegetable education through the Seed Book. The engagement had three parts: 1. Education through reading – Names of locally abundant vegetables were taught through the book. 2. Education through song – “Bahay Kubo” was sung to signify the start of each daily feeding activity. 3. Educating through planting – The Seed Book pages were planted, watered and will eventually be harvested. Combining an engaging education component to the existing feeding program created a holistic approach. Kids developed an appreciation for vegetables by letting them care for them. In the end, we made eating vegetables more effective for kids.