Why is this work relevant for PR?

Korean millennials suffer from hollowness from hyper-connected, yet inauthentic online relationships, and seek for what’s real. Sunkist aimed to alleviate millennials’ feeling of exclusion and suggest a way to share what’s real with others. Sunkist implemented a grove-like experience zone with engagement programs to encourage people to enjoy ‘real’ interaction face-to-face. Sunkist’s moving café toured around Seoul to visit and make a citrus dish for audience to give ‘real’ refreshing moments in daily life. Amplified online and offline with social media events, brand videos, and OOH ad, Sunkist raised brand awareness and shared what’s real by giving refreshing citrus moments.

Background

What pops-up in the average Korean consumer’s mind when they hear the name “Sunkist”? Fresh citrus? California groves? Unfortunately, not. According to a survey, only 6 % of Korean consumers recognized Sunkist as a fruit brand. Even though Sunkist is a familiar brand to Korean consumers, most of them think of it as a beverage/sweets brand because local F&B brand used the name for 37 years after acquiring the Sunkist trademark. On the other hand, Korean millennials begun looking for the what’s real, getting tired of inauthenticity in digital world. They want the real food, real experience and real talk with real people.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

To restore the brand’s image as a fresh fruit brand, Sunkist built a messaging platform called “Share What’s Real”, which promotes awareness of Sunkist as a fruit brand and encourages a real connection between people through citrus, rather than the virtual connections that frequently take place online nowadays. We delivered the "Share What's Real" messaging in a three-pronged approach: Real Food, Real Talk, and Real Experience. We designed the campaign to help our audience experience all three aspects of sharing what's real. While having a fresh and nutritious meal made of Sunkist citrus (Real Food), our audience shared real-life stories with others face-to-face (Real Talk) and had a refreshing break from their busy lives (Real Experience). To ensure a successful campaign, we set gradual goals for this integrated marketing activation. First, in 2018, we aimed to shift their indifference to interest. Then in 2019, we engaged with involved audiences.

Describe the strategy (30% of vote)

Sunkist’s target audience in Korea is millennials. Although they are digital natives comfortable in the online world, they still value offline experiences. In particular, they value Instagram-worthy offline experiences that they can share with friends online. To leverage this unique characteristic, we planned a brand campaign that integrated the online and offline experiences. First, we focused on a distinguished offline experience. We created a Sunkist experience zone that was decorated to look like a Californian grove to attract their interest and featured multisensory offline experiences that our target audience loves. Simultaneously, we encouraged people to share their experiences through their social media. We also integrated a number of online touchpoints. We cooperated with micro-influencers across a variety of categories and launched brand videos through social media. We also ran OOH advertising on public transportation to engage the Sunkist audience throughout their day.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Our first step was to shift our audience’s indifference to interest. To do that, we installed an experiential zone decorated like a California grove, called Welcome to the Grove, in a prominent stomping ground of the city in March 2018. The zone included multisensory experiences including cooking demonstrations and a VR experience to support the Sunkist brand message. Our second step was to engage with the involved audience. During this phase we moved the California grove into a small caravan café, called the Citrus Therapy Café. Launched in April 2019 the café operates with no fixed menu. Instead, the chef recommends refreshing, citrus-based dishes, offering tired, overworked customers a healthy, therapeutic break. Between these two big events, we continuously delivered the brand message and engaged with audiences by running social media events and brand videos on online.

List the results (30% of vote) – must include at least two of the following tiers:

For our two big offline events in 2018 and 2019, over 20,000 people were exposed to the events. 2,000 people directly participated in the activations and they voluntarily shared their experience on social media. We earned over 300 audience-generated pieces of content, boosting the amplification of the campaign. As a result of these activations, we got over 63 million impressions from media outreach, including press releases, feature articles, and magazine coverage. Due to the media highlighting the offline experience zone, a wider audience received our brand message indirectly. Our digital activation also performed well with the target audience. We worked with 20 micro-influencers to deliver the brand message and gained over 18,000 engagements from their sincere and authentic content. The results of the brand video were also outstanding. Our brand videos and owned channel contents received over 4 million impressions and 19,000 engagements just one month after launching. The videos focused on how people could enjoy Sunkist citrus in their daily life and resonated well with the target audience. Lastly, as we ran OOH advertising on a variety of platforms including subways, buses, shelters, and caravans, Sunkist received exposure throughout the city. The OOH campaign alone garnered approximately 43 million impressions. Ultimately, we have built a closer relationship with our target audience and successfully moved them from indifferent to engaged with a better understanding of Sunkist as a fresh citrus brand associated with the positive imagery of refreshing fruit that can help them rejuvenate from their hectic daily lives.