Through 2019 and 2020 Woolworths ran an engaging bus tour activation concept in Australia promoting healthy eating amongst kids through community sport which leveraged the retailer’s official sponsorships of the Australian Football League (AFL), Cricket Australia (CA), Netball Australia (NA) and Surfing Australia (SA).
Territory: Australia
Agency: TLA
Objectives
The umbrella aim was to boost Woolworth’s brand recognition and make the brand ‘the most loved and trusted community food store in the country’.
The brief tasked the retailer’s agency to develop a wholesome and enjoyable nationwide branded experience built around community grassroots sports events which would drive messaging around good nutrition and physical activity to an audience of young Australians while simultaneously providing additional nutrition materials for parents and guardians.
The retailer also encouraged agency TLA to leverage its key partnerships with major national sporting bodies through the initiative to further help deliver on the objectives: these include the brand’s sponsorships of cricket, netball, surfing, and Aussie rules all of which are primarily focused on youth sport and health/nutrition messaging.
AFL:
During 2020 Woolworths was the official supermarket and fresh food partner of the AFL and its central ‘Feeding Your Hunger For Footy’ activation connected fans and teams by celebrating the rituals of Friday night footy and the language and humour of the game.
Netball:
Through 2019 and 2020 Woolworths was an official partner of Netball Australia, its state based member organisations, the Origin Australian Diamonds national team and six of the eight teams in the Suncorp Super Netball league and uses its rights to focus on growing grassroots, youth and community netball and linking their activations to nutrition. Indeed, during those two years Woolworths supported more than 715,000 women playing netball (nearly half of them under the age of 14 through events, donations, post pads and club clinics.
Cricket:
Woolworths has been an official sponsor of Cricket Australia (and an official supplier of the KFC Big Bash League and Rebel Women’s Big Bash League) since June 2018 and supports the elite and grassroots game with a focus on the youth game and inspiring the next generation of Aussie cricketers as the naming rights partner of the entry-level program ‘Woolworths Cricket Blast’ school and clubs programme.
Surfing:
It was back in 2017 that Woolworths unveiled its current partnership with Surfing Australia: a collaboration that focuses on young surfers and which includes the 10-event ‘Woolworths Surfer Groms Comps presented by Wahu’ series, Surfing Australia’s six affiliated state branches ‘Woolworths State Junior Surfing Titles’ and the ‘Woolworths Australian Junior Surfing Team’ with the ‘Woolworths Fresh Wave’ award will also be given to the best junior surfers.
Activation
Working with agency TLA, the Woolworth’s marketing and nutrition team embarked on a journey across Australia throughout 2019 & 2020 on a branded double decker bus which visited (and hosted) grassroots junior sports events at which it provided activities based around good health and nutrition.
The branded, customised double decker bus acted as a mobile hub for kid’s health and nutrition and one of the main features of the bus was that all activation elements could be produced and stored within the vehicle thus enabling easy transportation between venues during the two year tour programme.
The vehicle’s in-built kitchen and refrigeration facilities also enabled the brand to bring its nutritional message to life by rolling out ‘healthy smoothie bike’ activations.
This initiative, activated at grassroots junior sports events across the country – including many of those run by one of the four sporting bodies listed above with which Woolworths partners – involved participants peddling on static bikes set up by the bus to blend fresh smoothies promoting good nutrition and physical exercise.
The top deck of the bus acted as a viewing platform where kids could hang out with friends and parents whilst watching the sport being played on the fields or courts below.
Outcome
According to the agency, the Woolworths Bus Tour’s key success metrics included:
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> 40+ community activations in 2019/20
> 112+ hours providing free fruit and fruit smoothies
> 7k kilometres travelled by the bus to local communities
> 10k+ fruit smoothies made
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