A shift from an ‘English’ to a ‘British’ marketing campaign for homegrown apples has received “a very positive reaction” from the major retailers, English Apples and Pears announced at a preview event for its Great British Apples Store in London.
The event was designed to generate media attention and promote the UK topfruit industry as EAP unveiled the new British focus of its campaign. Over the past the trade body has designed a colourful new ‘Great British’ logo for peel labelling, pack marking and point of sale materials.
This is the key element of a new drive to modernise the marketing of UK apples and move away from the perhaps parochial associations of an ‘English’ campaign – but the change has not been welcomed by all English growers, with “some more comfortable with the speed of change than others”, EAP’s outgoing chief executive Steven Munday said.
Rob Metcalfe of marketing agency Richmond and Towers, reported that “every major online and offline retailer bar one” had reacted “very positively to the Great British apples concept, to the logo and to the promotional programme for 2017”. Northern supermarket chain Booths has already started using stickers with the new logo.
Metcalfe added: “We’re starting to build a little bit of an added-value brand. That’s not an easy task, and it’s a long-term task, but we’re hoping the campaign can start to bring some more confidence to the industry, perhaps over time better returns for growers, and perhaps even increasing plantings as well.”
Richmond and Towers only started working with EAP in March, but in a short space of time it has contributed to a fresh approach for the topfruit campaign. This includes a strong focus on social media marketing, as well as the more traditional methods of recipe development, PR and media relations.
One aspect of the campaign is to “reinvent the Bramley apple”, Metcalfe said, with the development of a ‘Bramley bap’ dessert – an alternative to the traditional way of serving baked apples.
Munday, who also gave a speech at the event, said: “Our growers can sell everything they produce so you may wonder why we need marketing activity at all. The answer, I believe, is that we’re investing for a future where the term British-grown apples stands for something more than just the country of origin.
“It is undoubtedly a challenge for us despite the great work that individual brands are doing to build their own presence in the market.”
The preview event came on the eve of the first ever Great British Apples Day, when the Great British Apples Store opened its doors to bloggers and the public.
The EAP members and growers in attendance were invited to sample different varieties of apple at a ‘variety bar’, try their hand at apple carving and decoration, and have their picture taken against an “instagrammable’ photo wall showing the new logo.
Commenting on EAP’s more modern approach, chairman Phil Acock said: “It’s time to shake things up a little, do things differently and make the point that British apples are more than just a commodity that fills a gap on shelves for a period of time each year.
“My hope is that in time we will see the Great British apple logo appear right across the trade from field to shelf and at all points in between.”
