 |
 |
The government of Ontario has evolved its “Good Things Grow” campaign, part of the province’s Pick Ontario Freshness marketing strategy, with a new campaign from GJP Advertising.
The Pick Ontario effort launched in 2007 as a consumer awareness campaign designed to promote the depth and variety of fresh food from Ontario.
To promote the province’s foods to Ontarians, the government launched a series of television commercials by Young & Rubicam featuring a farmer with a guitar singing the vintage jingle “Good things grow in Ontario.”
For the new campaign, the farmer has been shelved for a “more sincere” and “charming” tone that adds context for consumers, said Toni Peet, supervisor of public awareness, branding and marketing of Ontario Foods, The Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
“We wanted to change it up, but the goal is still the same,” she said. “It’s fresh, but still right on strategy.”
The effort, the first from GJP since it took over the account from Y&R last year, includes two 30-second TV and radio commercials.
One TV spot shows a family enjoying various meals featuring Ontario products, all of which incorporate apples: Ontario pork chops with homemade apple sauce, grilled cheese and apple sandwiches, apple cinnamon pancakes and fresh apple pie.
The son finally asks his mom “What’s with all the apples?” To which she replies “Ask your father.”
The commercial jumps to a local market with the husband and wife shopping. As the wife orders five Ontario pork chops, her husband picks an apple from the middle of an organized stack, causing a large number of them to roll on the floor.
The two TV ads direct consumers to SavourOntario.ca, an information portal that provides consumers with a searchable index of restaurants that focus on Ontario food.
All four ads end with the “Good things grow in Ontario” jingle that has become synonymous with the campaign, and has a 94% recall, said Peet.
Peet is confident the Pick Ontario Freshness campaign is resonating with shoppers.
She cited a 2008 advertising awareness study conducted by the OMAFRA, which found that 69% of respondents recalled the ads, up from 40% the year before.
Ontario is also boosting grassroots marketing efforts by encouraging more people to buy locally grown food at farmers’ markets, at on-farm food stands, in grocery stores and in restaurants.
The province hosted a farmers’ market on the lawn of Queen’s Park last week, involving 24 exhibitors representing dozens of different fresh Ontario products, from asparagus to ice cream.
According to OMAFRA, the agri-food industry contributes more than $33 billion to the Ontario economy and employs about 745,000 people.
Two additional radio spots, trade, consumer and transit ads are expected to launch later this Fall. The campaign wraps up at the end of March 2010, with MBS handling the media buy.
