The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
Entry Number: 24
1. Agency
AJF Partnership
2. Advertiser
National Foods – Farmer‟s Union Iced Coffee 750ml Stubby
3. Entry Title
Fading brand legend gets FUICed and wins 9.5% growth
4. Category for this Entry
C - Beverages
5. Author
Jody Elston
6. Phone
03 – 9243 8100
7. Email
[email protected]
Directions appearing with each question must not to be deleted from the completed case; they serve as a guide for both
entrants and judges. All data must include a specific, verifiable source. Refer to the Effie “How to Enter” booklet for
guidelines on properly sourcing your data. Data without a source will result in entry disqualification. Answer every
question or indicate “not applicable” and define your target audience in the entry. Any unanswered question will result in
entry disqualification.
8a
Total Campaign Expenditure
Include production and value of donated media and non-traditional paid media. Check one.
X
8b
Under $500K
$5 - 10 million
$500 – $1 million
$10 - 20 million
$1 - 2 million
$20 - 40 million
$2 - 5 million
$40 million and over
What was the strategic communications challenge?
What was going on in your category? Provide information on the category, marketplace, company, competitive
environment, target audience and/or the product /service that created your challenge and your response to it.
Impulse sales were sliding
Launched in 1978, Farmer‟s Union Iced Coffee (FUIC) is legendary in South Australia.
(It‟s been officially named as a South Australian State Icon – truly!) It‟s a down to
earth, hard working, blokey brand that‟s like a best mate. With 64% of the flavoured
milk category and 21 million litres consumed every year, it is the number one
packaged impulse beverage in South Australiai. In fact, FUIC is one of the only brands
worldwide that challenges Coke in a local market (along with Irn-Bru in Scotland but
that‟s another story). But as beloved as the brand is, since 2002 FUIC had
experienced a long, slow decline in share. In 2006 the launch of FUIC Strong, a high
caffeine variant helped to put the brand back in growth, however by 2009 sales had
stagnated. The biggest concern was in the impulse channels where sales were down 2.7% versus 2008ii. For a goliath brand such as FUIC, this was no small slide and a
warning sign of the brand‟s declining relevance.
Sport and energy drinks enticing younger blokes
FUIC‟s roots are with the traditional tradie who can down up to six cartons a day.
There is a story of a miner who once devised his own six-pack carton holder, and
another who went on strike until his stolen carton was replaced. Some cult followers
even sport the logo as a tattoo!
The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
The biggest threat facing the brand was that these core drinkers were aging. They‟d
grown up with the brand in the 70s, 80s and 90s, and were still as loyal as they‟d
always been. The problem was that the brand wasn‟t attracting younger drinkers,
who either didn‟t want to know about their dads‟ drink, or were enticed by an everexpanding choice of impulse beverages, like sports drinks, energy drinks and nutrient
waters. The impulse channels were also increasingly supporting these drinks, giving
them more shelf space.
New bottle format not great or new
The brand was in need of stimulation again. National Foods made a decision to launch
FUIC in a new 750ml bottle variant into the impulse channels in SA with a local
communications campaign. This would be the key activity for FUIC in 2009 to help reverse
the decline and get people talking about the brand again.
Qualitative researchiii unearthed a tough challenge; the proposed new bottle format
was not appealing in its own right. It represented a loss of heritage and ritual for
FUIC. People were very attached to the tradition of the carton and said they would
have preferred the 750ml format to come in a carton like the core 600ml. FUIC had
previously been launched in a 500ml bottle in South Australia, which was rejected by
consumers for being too feminine and „soft‟ and subsequently delisted. In the National
Foods business there were also mixed feelings about launching FUIC in a bottle again.
This was also not a new format innovation. Ice Break Iced Coffee, the tough new
Queenslander had already been launched in South Australia in the 750ml bottle
format. We would not be first to market.
Brand revitalisation with minimal cannibalisation
The core challenge was to make the 750ml bottle appealing to shake up the FUIC
brand but with minimal trading up and cannibalisation of the core 600ml carton
variant.
The opportunity was to use this new format to grow the category by extending FUIC
into new usage occasions and driving frequency of purchase of FUIC.
8c
What were your objectives? State specific goals.
Your entry is expected to include compelling data including behavioural objectives and results. Only in rare
instances are the judges likely to award an entry that only demonstrates attitudinal changes. Provide a % or # for
all goals. If you do not have a specific type of objective (e.g. no quantifiable objectives), state this in the entry
form and explain why and why the objectives you do have are significant and challenging in the context of your
category, etc. You must provide benchmark and context for your goals versus year prior and in context of
competitive landscape and category.
Business Objectives: Minimal cannibalisation; maximum volume and value
Measure
Arrest total FUIC sales decline (-2.7%) in
impulse channels
Volume for FUIC 750ml (Litres)
Net Sales Value (NSV)
Minimal cannibalisation of 600ml FUIC carton
Target Oct – Dec 2009
0.5% volume growth
327,741 Litres
$551,336
11% (Oct – Feb 2010)
The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
To give some context, in 2008 FUIC sold 3,080,000 litres of the 600ml carton versus
3,143,250 litres in 2007 for the same 3-month period of October to Decemberiv. The
aim of FUIC 750ml was to deliver 0.5% growth of FUIC in 2009 with minimal
cannibalisation.
Brand and Communications Objectives



9a
Strengthen brand connection, particularly with males 25 - 34
Create noise and talkability of FUIC throughout SA
Build modernity and boldness back into FUIC whilst ensuring it‟s still part of
the FUIC family and doesn‟t alienate our loyal drinkers
What was your strategy – and how did you get there?
What was your strategy? Was it driven by a consumer insight or channel insight or marketplace / brand
opportunity? Explain how it originated and how the strategy addressed the challenge.
The consumer insight
Agency research found that blokes in South Australia were starting to feel the
pressure to curb their blokey ways and become more „polished‟ men, particularly the
younger blokes. They were turning to café lattes over FUIC, and without quite
realising it, were losing the core skills of being a man.
A less confident brand might have attempted to change and adapt to „cash in‟ on this
trend of becoming more „polished‟. But instead of evolving FUIC to meet these new
behaviours, we stuck to our roots and did the opposite. We decided to help men be
men. Despite starting to use face creams and drink Pure Blonde we found there was
still the desire to return to the roots of being a real man. We needed to speak to
Australian blokes as genuine, hard working guys who like a laugh and aspire to being
fit and strong. FUIC embodied these qualities above all other impulse beverages –
particularly in a bigger 750ml bottle we called „The Stubby‟.
“Society is turning us into women. We can‟t whistle at women anymore, but nor can
we open a door for them…. Equal (opportunity) is not about being the same. I have
testicles and you don‟t! We are not the same! Back in my dad‟s day it was clear –
now there is no rule book (on what a man‟s role is) …we have become the same and
we shouldn‟t be!v” James 34, AJF Consumer Diary Study 2009
The strategy
It would have been easy to focus on the benefit of a „bigger hit - more of what you
love‟, but this wouldn‟t have explained why FUIC switched from a carton to a bottle.
More importantly, it would have simply resulted in blokes trading up, cannibalising
sales of the 600ml carton and not stretching the brand into new occasions.
Instead, we focused on a great functional truth. FUIC was now truly portable and
resealable. The tough new surface of the bottle meant the brand could go where it
couldn‟t go as easily before – throw it in an esky, beat it up on the worksite, in a car
on road trips or fishing trips. Put simply, FUIC was now tougher.
The functionality of the bottle gave us permission to take FUIC strength and blokiness
to the next level.
The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
The personality for FUIC has always been straightforward, approachable and likes a
laugh – we now pushed the brand to the outer echelons of its blokiness, introducing a
tough bold new tone of voice that suited FUIC 750ml but still maintained Farmer‟s
Union‟s sense of humour.
In summary, the strategy was to make our increasingly metro-challenged blokes feel
good about being a real bloke again by giving them a tougher and stronger FUIC in
the 750ml „Stubby‟.
9b
What was your big idea?
What was the idea that drove your effort?
The idea should not be your execution or tagline. State in one sentence.
FUIC is now “indestructible” when on the move, ensuring Aussie blokes can feel like
real men anywhere, anytime.
10
How did you bring the idea to life?
Describe and provide rationale for your communications strategy that brings the idea to life. Explain how your
idea addresses your challenge. Describe the channels selected/why selected? How did your creative and media
strategies work together?
In not more than three A4 pages show sufficient creative examples to enable the judges to understand the
campaign. These pages can be additional to the seven A4 page written entry.
In a big, bold way, the creative announced “We‟ve toughened the FUIC up” much to
the delight of blokes and horror of conservative country women‟s groups.
We referred to Farmer‟s Union Iced Coffee as FUIC for the first time, which we knew
was already in the vernacular from blogs and social networking.
The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
Other poster lines that emphasised the portability and new occasions included:
The radio said to men… “We‟ve toughened the FUIC up, now it‟s your turn” with funny
scenarios that highlighted the plight of man‟s abilities today:-
The aim was to give blokes permission to be real men through bold, confident and
humorous communication. The product format was positioned as tougher which
allowed FUIC to own this space.
Media Strategy: Turn a new format launch into major local news.
We challenged the narrow target of Men 25-34 years, convincing the client that this
should be big news for the entire state and not just one audience. We used major
billboards to quickly reach a mass audience on their journey to work, ensuring the
message was loud, proud and public, and talked about that morning. We made FUIC
front-page news by wrapping the largest newspaper in the city (Adelaide Advertiser)
and creating a Homepage takeover of Adelaide Now website. We used Adelaide's
number one breakfast radio show to announce the launch, using the most famous
local radio DJ (and a known FUIC fan) to reassure people that this was a positive
addition to their loved brand. The cheeky outdoor created its own PR, getting the
radio, print and online journalists, bloggers and Twitter community talking.
11
The other component of the media strategy was to make FUIC 750ml part of blokes‟
routine. We supported the core campaign with 24 sheet posters, POS and other instore activity to drive new occasions for FUIC.
How do you know your campaign was successful?
Detail why you consider your effort a success. Refer to your objectives (results must relate directly to your
objectives in (8c) – restate them and provide results) and demonstrate how you met or exceeded those objectives
using quantitative and behavioural metrics. Did your effort drive business? Did it drive awareness and
consumer/business behaviour? Use charts and data whenever possible. Explain what x% means in your category.
The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
For confidential information proof of performance may be indexed if desired. Demonstrate the correlation between
activity and outcomes.
Make sure you address every objective, whether fully achieved or not. Indicate why the results you have are
significant in the context of your category, competition and product / service.
You need to convince the judges that the marketing investment provided a positive financial return – if that was a
requirement. Indexing of data is acceptable. Your entry will not be ineligible if you don‟t provide any data, but
entries that do provide convincing evidence will gain additional marks. (Note that this data can be excluded from
the published case on request.)
Business Results: Achieved minimal cannibalisation; maximum volume and value!
Measure
Arrest total FUIC
sales decline
(-2.7%) in
impulse channels
Volume for FUIC
750ml (Litres)
Net Sales Value
(NSV)
Minimise
cannibalisation of
600ml FUIC
carton
Target Oct –
Dec 2009
0.5% volume
growth
Resultsvi
Difference
9.5% volume
growth
(-2.7 to +6.9%)
19x the target
327,741 Litres
612,392 Litres
+187% vs. target
$551,336
$1.5M
+272%
11%
(Oct – Feb 2010)
7%
Less 4%
cannibalisation than
targeted
Sales in the impulse channel surged from a -2.7% decline to +6.9%vii growth in the
quarters immediately before and after the launch.
The communications campaign began officially on 11th October and ran until 29th
November 2009. In the first two weeks of the campaign alone, sales increased by a
staggering 46% (see graph below). This was such a dramatic surge that at the time,
FUIC feared it couldn‟t make enough to meet demand.
Amazingly, there has been an average of only 7% cannibalisation of the 600ml
regular FUIC carton. With 700ml plus 600ml SKU‟s, FUIC now outsold Coke 600ml
2.63:1viii.
The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
Brand & Communications Results
Create noise and talkability of Farmer’s Union throughout SA
The campaign immediately ignited a debate amongst the community – both for and
against the use of the line “We‟ve toughened the FUIC up”. We didn‟t care. Everyone
was talking about FUIC again. The local talkback radio ABC 891 devoted a 5-minute
segment, complete with community vox pops conducted underneath our most
prominent supersite. The Adelaide Advertiser, SA‟s biggest newspaper, ran a page 3
article, “Why we‟re crying over this iced milk”. On the day it ran, it was the most read
article on its website, Adelaide Now. An online poll was even conducted on its home
page, asking “Do you find the ad offensive or clever?” More than 3,500 voters
weighed into the debate, with a resounding 83% voting „clever‟. More than 200
comments were made on the site, with more on Twitter. It made a buzz, and it made
headlines. (See press coverage examples below.)
The FUIC 750ml case study was also recently featured in the April 2010 edition of
BRW magazine and affirms the success of the campaign. “A blokey campaign to sell
Farmer‟s Union Iced Coffee in a stubby is showing strong results.”ix
The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
Strengthen brand connection, particularly with males 25 - 34
The awareness of any Farmer‟s Union brand communications went from 57% to 66%
with outdoor brand communications in particular shifting up from 22% to 36%x.
The purchase intent “It would be my first choice” increased from 43% to 53%, which
we expected from the outstanding sales results. “Do you love” scores rose from 56%
to 65% proving we made a connectionxi.
AJF Partnership conducted a diary study with follow-up depth interviews in November
2009 during the campaign with males 18 – 34 years. Following are a collection of
quotes, which highlight how the campaign resonated strongly with the core audience.
“I heard the radio ads. I like the tone, but now I feel bad not knowing anything about
footy and never giving anyone any „tips‟. Maybe I need to harden the fook up?” Ben
23xii
“The ads are mostly aimed at men who are in desk jobs like me, who have begun
turning into women and need to become real men again.” James 34
The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
“I like the new ads. I have noticed a real shift back to advertising more at real men
as used to be the case. For a while there it seemed like advertising was moving more
to the metro blokes, I am sure there are a lot of men out there that like facials and
waxing and all the girly stuff and my old housemate was of that ilk with creams and
moisturisers all over the bathroom, but the majority of blokes I know keep it real. All
they need is a bar of soap, a number 3 haircut and maybe a nice shirt for a night on
the town. It may be a bit bogan but that is how I and a lot of my mates are.” Lee 30
“The latest FUIC ads are funny, I like them. Like beer ads - funny, stupid humour.
Guys should be able to tighten taps and do things around the house, but dressing up
a bit and looking after yourself is okay too.” - Sam 21
Build modernity and boldness back into FUIC, whilst ensuring it’s still part of
the FUIC family and doesn’t alienate our loyal drinkers
FUIC built upon its classic brand image attributes of traditional (81% to 92%), is a
brand I trust (75% to 82%) and down to earth (63% to 65%) where the brand has
always been strong, demonstrating the FUIC 750ml format was still true to FUIC‟s
core equityxiii.
However the Farmer‟s Union brand also built upon brand image attributes where the
brand traditionally did not perform well, includingxiv: Offers something different to other brands (29% – 46%, +158%)
 Are brands that are setting the trends (50% – 61%, +122%)
 Is an innovative brand (41% – 51%, +124%)
 Is modern (36% – 49%, +136%)
 Is fun (38% – 55%, +145%)
 Is adventurous (18% – 35%, +194%)
This demonstrated we were successful in building a new sense of modernity and
braveness in the FUIC brand.
12
Convince us that the result was not due to other factors.
You must explain in your entry the effect of any other potentially relevant factors such as product changes, pricing
changes, distribution changes, competitive activity, press coverage, economic conditions, weather etc. Advertising
does not often work in isolation, but the judges need to be convinced that your campaign had a major impact on
results.
The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
Pricing changes
Pricing did not change over the period of the campaign. 750ml was $3.49 p/unit
(18% more than 600ml at $2.95). Mid-way through the campaign FUIC 750ml was
launched into grocery chains where there was heavy price discounting on the 600ml
carton. This caused a slight dip in sales of 750ml in impulse channels, which bounced
right back as soon as the price promotions in grocery on 600ml carton ceased.
Distribution changes
FUIC 600ml carton has 100% distributionxv in impulse channels which did not change
throughout the campaign. The strategy for FUIC 750ml was to secure distribution and
ranging in impulse channels side by side where the current FUIC 600ml was stocked.
Competitive activity
FUIC had 50% of flavoured milk share of voice (SOV) in South Australia in 2009
($250k of $500k) and 50% in 2008 ($160k of $320k)xvi. Our share of voice did not
increase.
Economic conditions
The campaign ran in the midst of the financial crisis of 2009 when people were
tightening their belts, and yet people were willing to pay 18% more for Farmer‟s
Union in the 750ml variant.
Product changes
The FUIC 750ml was a new bottle format for FUIC which research had indicated had
some significant barriers that the communication then worked hard to overcome.
There was no change to the product itself. Ice Break was also already in the market
with the same bottle format at the time of launch.
Weather and seasonality
Farmer‟s Union flavoured milk sales are largely flat throughout the year as it is a
consistent routine purchase. There is a slight trend towards selling less over January
when people‟s routine is broken, as well as selling less over winter when it is colder.
This did not impact the timings of our campaign, which ran over October and
November.
13
Executive Summary
An Executive Summary of no more than 100 words is also required (not included in page count).
Sales of legendary blokey Farmer‟s Union Iced Coffee (FUIC) stagnated in impulse
channels in SA in 2009.
Core drinkers were aging and younger drinkers were turning to energy drinks and
lattes, and curbing their blokey ways.
Faced with the challenge of reinvigoration, we launched the bigger “indestructible”
The Australian Effie Awards
Entry Form 2010 Categories A to P
FUIC 750ml „Stubby‟ and challenged blokes to toughen up.
“We’ve toughened the FUIC up” campaign was publicly debated in newspapers,
talkback radio and online.
Sales surged from a -2.7% decline to +6.9% growth, with supply struggling to meet
demand.
There was only 7% cannibalisation of the FUIC 600ml carton.
FUIC was famous again.
i
ii
ACNielsen Australia ScanTrack – 20% val share and 15.7% vol share of TOTAL NARTD IN P&C
NFL BI Tool 2009
iii
iv
v
vi
Pollinate Qualitative Research for National Foods 2009
NFL BI Tool 2007 and 2008
AJF FUIC Consumer Diary Study 2009
NFL BI Tool 2009
vii
NFL BI Tool 2009
viii
NFL BI Tool 2009
ix
BRW Magazine April 2010
x
National Foods Brand Health Tracker 2009. Pre: 24th August - 11th October; During: 12th October - 29th November
xi
xii
National Foods Brand Health Tracker 2009. Pre: 24th August - 11th October; During: 12th October - 29th November
AJF FUIC Consumer Diary Study 2009
xiii
xiv
xv
xvi
National Foods Brand Health Tracker 2009. Pre: 24th August - 11th October; During: 12th October - 29th November
National Foods Brand Health Tracker 2009. Pre: 24th August - 11th October; During: 12th October - 29th November
ACNielsen Austalia ScanTrack 2/8/09 – 14/3/2010
Ad Quest Millennium 2008 and 2009