Bord Bia -
Best in Season
Embracing the health benefits of locally grown fruit & veg!
Highlights
➜ Significant Tier 1 media placements secured for multiple campaigns under the Best in Season banner since its inception in 2021
➜ Creation of vibrant, engaging photography has helped elevate ‘Best in Season’ campaigns annually
➜ Refreshed campaign with new ideas and approaches each year
The Brief
In order to promote fresh, seasonal produce year-round, Bord Bia set out to develop an engaging communications campaign to connect with consumers. We worked on the strategy, concept and delivery of this new fruit and vegetable campaign in 2021. The aim was to motivate consumers to purchase and cook in-season, locally grown fresh produce and to increase awareness of the benefits of eating with the seasons. In recent years, Best in Season has developed into an always-on campaign, the purpose of which is to highlight specific in-season fruit and vegetables all-year round depending on produce availability and seasonality.
The Approach
The inaugural Best in Season campaign involved widespread media relations activity featuring registered dietician Orla Walsh and local fresh produce growers. Alongside a week-long homepage takeover of food section on www.irishtimes.com, we further elevated the media relations activity. As part of a strong digital strategy, we worked closely with Bord Bia to develop engaging and colourful multi-media content for Bord Bia’s social media channels which was used in a paid-for and organic content. We also identified and worked with select food writers and content creators to generate inspirational social media recipe content.
In recent years, we have used the “Best in Season” banner as a key part of other promotional activity such as the ‘Field Veg & New Season Queens’, ‘Celebrate Strawberry Season’, and ‘National Potato Day’ campaigns utilising the label as a fundamental pillar to promote more sustainable consumer shopping habits.
The Impact
Strong media relations activity resulted in large placements including TV News coverage on RTE One, several radio interviews with campaign spokespersons and strong placement across national, regional, trade and consumer media supporting the launch of the “Best in Season” always-on campaign. The creation of highly engaging and vibrant social media content provided a consistent look and feel to the campaign and has featured prominently across a variety of Bord Bia promotions. This content stream was the top-performing pillar for Bord Bia Instagram in 2021. The Best in Season fresh produce calendar resource created has become a popular toolkit for Irish consumers, media, dietitians and influencers to reference on social media when planning meals and shopping lists. This demonstrates the value and reception of the campaign objectives.
