U.K. campaign seeks to make watercress a produce mainstay
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The Watercress Alliance has announced a new three-year campaign to promote watercress as healthy, versatile and easy-to-prepare in a bid to get consumers buying it on a regular basis.
One of the main objectives of the PR campaign is to steer public perception away from viewing watercress as a simple garnish and to transform it in to a staple fresh produce item on the shopping lists of U.K. consumers.
The Good for Every Body campaign is being run by British specialist agency PamLloyd PR, and will be active across a diverse mix of media platforms from traditional print and broadcast media to social media promotions.
The younger generation is being particularly targeted via social media channels including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by way of prompting conversations, posting images and debating trends about watercress as well as promoting its unique health benefits.
The Watercress Alliance is the body that represents U.K. growers, packers and suppliers of watercress and is made up of the three largest producers in Great Britain; Alresford Salads, Vitacress Salads Ltd and The Watercress Company, who together farm, pack and distribute from 100 acres in the south of England.
Backed with more than ÂŁ150,000 (US$239,799) worth of funding, The Watercress Company managing director Tom Amery says the consumer campaign will, over time, aim to promote watercress to new audiences as well as people who think of it as an accompaniment rather than a produce mainstay in its own right.
"Given the increasing consumer appetite for products that are naturally healthy, the campaign’s key messages will focus on the incredible natural health properties of watercress," he says.
"We need to explain that it’s not just for health enthusiasts or hardcore foodies, but in fact is good for everybody, from first-time cooks to families."
Speaking about the long running media campaign, managing director of PamLloyd PR, Dieter Lloyd, says the key to this promotion is working across a broad media base.
"Of course we take social (media) seriously, it’s not something to be dabbled with, or left on the sidelines; it’s a fundamental part of the marketing programme," he says in the release.
"The watercress campaign will benefit from an entirely new approach to digital communications to deliver a real and measurable impact on its audience.
"Talking to people in a language they understand in a place where they are already having conversations is what will make this campaign a success. You can’t expect your audience to come and find you, you have to go out and find them."