Consumers in South Korea were treated to a series of fabulous pop-up events in three locations recently, as part of our ongoing mission to close the gap between awareness and experience of macadamias in this important market.
Our success in Korea to date has taught us that when Korean consumers experience macadamias, they fall in love with them. This key learning has underpinned our recent strategy in this market and we have actively created more touch points between our product and consumers.
Messaging that accompanied the events focused on the authenticity, Australian origin and premium quality of our product.
Comprehensive strategy delivers outstanding results
The events were leveraged online and offline before, during and after the live events, delivering an impressive overall potential to view of almost 1.8 million.
Facebook posts in the lead up and during each of the events generated reach of nearly 84,000, and more than 2,400 engagements.
Power blogger posts reached 105,000, and coverage in 10 different media publications delivered excellent reach of nearly 1.6 million South Korean consumers.
The events themselves were based in popular and busy locations and attracted more than 1,000 people.
3 events. 5 experiences. Unlimited macadamia fun!
The events were styled to tap into the current picnic trend and took place in Seoul, Daejeon and Busan, with each picnic themed to suit the venue.
In Seoul, fans were treated to a macadamia picnic in the city waterpark. In Daejeon, it was a picnic in the animal park, while in Busan, we hosted a beachside picnic.
The macadamia character that has become so popular in this market was on hand for every photo opportunity!
As free events that were open to all, our team encouraged people to participate in a host of activities, all designed to showcase the multiple messages and applications of macadamias. There were five fun activities on offer.
- Crack the nut to taste macadamias fresh from the shell. To most people, cracking macadamias was a totally new experience, as was the taste of fresh kernel. Children particularly loved trying to crack the nut, while their parents were amazed by the flavour of the fresh macadamias. This was the most popular activity of the whole event and it created plenty of excitement, with many visitors asking where they can buy nut in shell and nut crackers.
- Experience macadamia products. A host of Australian macadamia products were on hand for guests to try first hand. While many were aware of macadamia culinary oil and chocolate covered macadamias, macadamia beauty products were a new experience, generating significant interest and requests for information on where to buy. The macadamia liqueur also proved very popular, particularly at the beach event in Busan.
- Meet Australian Macadamias. An infographic shared key macadamia facts with consumers, with some localised content included, alongside images of macadamia trees and orchards. Many people were not aware that macadamias are grown on trees, so it was the perfect opportunity to establish a baseline understanding of the growing story.
- Play to learn and win. To capitalise on the infographic, a quiz was created with macadamia prizes on offer for anyone who answered all the questions correctly. Prizes included macadamia cookies, macadamia gift bags and macadamia smoothies.
- Take a trick art photo to share. One of the most innovative features of the events was the trick art wall, where people could take a photo to share on social media. This resulted in some fabulous macadamia fan imagery, and also served as an excellent means of crowd control, with visitors diverted to the trick art wall for entertainment, when queues for other activities grew too long.
Mini sampling event tests the water
A mini-event held earlier in the year served as a valuable testing ground for these larger events, enabling us to ascertain which macadamia activities would work best on a larger scale and create the most excitement among consumers.
This smaller event was held at an indoor venue in Seoul, and was styled to reflect the Australian Macadamias brand and product. It enabled around 200 visitors to taste macadamias in ways they may not have tried before, and gain a better understanding of Australia as the origin of macadamias, and how they are grown. It also showcased macadamia beauty products.
The event featured macadamia cracking, macadamia sampling and macadamia latte tasting, with four different flavours on offer – macadamia honey, strawberry, chocolate and plain, with macadamia honey and strawberry proving to be the most popular.
“I didn’t know about macadamia honey. Macadamia latte with a few drops of macadamia honey doesn’t taste too sweet – it’s the right balance to make it an enjoyable drink”, said one attendee. “Because macadamias have a milder taste than other nuts, their flavour mixes really well with other ingredients like strawberries. I will try to make my own macadamia latte”, remarked another.
The potential health benefits of macadamias were also recognised, with one visitor saying “I prefer natural food, so the plain macadamia latte is my choice. I feel like if I drank this after working out, I would lose weight in a healthy way.”
Glowing attendee feedback
Attendees of the three pop-up events were invited to leave a comment as they left, and their feedback captured the mood perfectly.
“I already feel prettier and healthier after eating macadamias!” said one. “I will choose Australian macadamias over Milmyeon (a popular Korean dish)”, said another.
And proving that macadamia experiences can have a profound effect on South Korean consumers was this comment: “I am about to re-evaluate my life as it’s the first time I ever tasted fresh macadamias!”
The event saw 2,000 macadamia smoothies and 1,200 macadamia cookies consumed, 450 macadamia gift bags handed out, and a few lucky visitors even got to try a macadamia cocktail.
Congratulations and thanks to our South Korean team for planning and executing such innovative and engaging events.
