Iceland Foods - Removing Palm Oil
Consumers are increasingly attracted to brands that share their social values, and it is well documented that they are prepared to pay more for products from more socially responsible companies.
British supermarket, Iceland Foods listened, and as a result announced they would remove palm oil from their own branded products by the end of 2018.
The marketing team at Iceland Foods developed the following integrated marketing campaign to ensure their audience was aware of this change:
· TVC – a rebrand of a Greenpeace palm oil advertisement
· Extensive TV advertising anticipated to cost $500k pounds sterling
· Experiential Marketing - an oranutang on the loose in London
· Ongoing eNewsletters
· No Palm Oil stickers on packaging
The advertisement was brilliant. Emotive, engaging and childlike in its simplicity, telling a heartbreaking story of orangutans loosing their homes as a result of deforestation so humans can source palm oil for their food and shampoo. The ad concludes with an announcement that Iceland Foods is removing palm oil from their private label products.
Iceland Foods have listened to their customers, they understand their values and are have responded with changes to their product range.
What could possibly go wrong? Well, the TVC didn’t comply with UK advertising regulators and was banned from being aired commercially.
Rather than rolling over, the marketing team at Iceland Foods came into their own. They told their audience via a media release and social media that the advertisement had been banned in the UK and asked everyone to watch and share the ad to get the message out there.
The results were exceptional, the TVC has now been viewed over 65 million times, brand consideration increased 25% during launch week and the Iceland Foods talkability in the supermarket segment went from #7 to #2.
Congratulations to Iceland Foods for listening to your customers, changing your product and delivering a great integrated campaign that that has stimulated a global conversation about palm oil.
In Australia
Zoos Victoria are calling for mandatory labelling of palm oil to help put pressure on food companies to start using sustainably produced palm oil.
To find out more. and support Zoos Victoria on this journey please visit the link below.
https://www.zoo.org.au/get-involved/act-for-wildlife/dont-palm-us-off
