As the only South African fruit brand with its own app and interactive game, Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing has invested heavily in using technology to engage with young people as a future generation of brand supporters.
The games, Fruit-Full with over 4000 users, Fruit-Sort and Fruit-Match, have received much acclaim and are highly ranked in the app stores but now Tru-Cape, the largest exporter of South African apples and pears, and a wholly grower-owned agricultural business, has taken this concept from the virtual into the real world.
The Fruit-Full Farm is a TV game show created by Tru-Cape’s interactive agency, Recode Media with a goal to educate viewers and consumers about the many stages in fruit production – in short, what it takes to produce apples and pears and to deliver them into the customer’s supermarket basket.
According to Tru-Cape’s Marketing Director Conrad Fick, while more than 60% of the brand’s followers are female there has also been a steady increase in interest from males and especially fathers who, increasingly, are making food-shopping decisions.
“We are making eight, three-minute shows being flighted on a family-centric TV channel such as e-TV’s Etoonz and each episode includes a child between the ages of eight and 12 with their parent or guardian. Challenges have been developed around the user interfaces of Fruit-Full, Tru-Sort and Fruit-Match.”
Hosted by Leroy Gopal, show one featured Michal and Malachi Augustine as well as Avenderan and Paven Naidoo, show two saw Nabu and Phia van Niekerk compete with Anton van Niekerk and Cassidy Faroe. Show three pit Chesslynn Jacobs and Chayson Lourence against Levona Morris, and Joshua Diener.
Tru-Cape Managing Director, Roelf Pienaar, says that as a business that used technology to better manage its processes and which had among its growers some of the youngest and most innovative in the country, that finding a technology solution to continuing the engagement with the Tru-Cape brand was something the company could get behind. “Apart from driving sales which is fundamental to any business, we especially liked that this game educated users about the vagaries of agriculture which we believe will help consumers better understand that the factory that produces apples and pears is without a roof. Despite our best efforts, nature will always have the final say. The TV programme does exactly the same thing”, Pienaar ends.
Source: BRIAN BERKMAN PUBLICITY