A publicity campaign to promote soft fruit throughout the winter has got off to a stunning start, achieving more than £1.5 million’s worth of publicity in the first few months, organisers claimed.
The Winter Berries campaign was formed to act in counterpoint to the British Summer Fruits campaign and is aimed at positioning berries as a modern, everyday super-food and to sustain sales during the winter months.
The project saw nine importers join forces to support the promotion which is being run by Sputnik Communications.
Kate Shanahan from Sputnik said, so far, the campaign was proving extremely successful: “We’ve had a huge amount of press coverage. Just in December and January we’ve generated around £1.5m worth of editorial coverage across a range of national media.”
Sputnik has also been carrying out a range of sampling campaigns, getting berries into star-studded events such as the Mencap Ball, as well as high-profile launch campaigns for the likes of Porsche and up-market lingerie outlet Myla.
The campaign is being given added support by leading nutritionist Patrick Holford and sex-guru Tracy Cox who is acting as berry spokesman for the campaign and helping to sex-up the image of the fruit.
A key fixture in the calendar for the campaign will be Valentines day, said Shanahan: “We’ll be focusing on strawberries and raspberries as the fruits of love and passion. Tracy will be doing a number of radio interviews as well as well as a British Heart Foundation walk, during which she’ll be giving out flirting tips.”
Further down the line, the campaign will move back towards the editorial promotion in time for Mother’s Day, she added.
Laurence Olins, chairman of Winter Berries, said: “Speaking on behalf of the nine importers who support the Winter Berries campaign, we are delighted with the results so far.
“The campaign has generated tremendous media coverage which appears to have increased sales across the categories.
“Moving forwards, we are anticipating an increase in sales for the Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter periods - all of which are being supported by specific activity as part of the Winter Berries campaign."
