Foodland Ontario is a long-established consumer promotion program of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. From its inception in 1977, Foodland Ontario has partnered with producers to achieve the maximum penetration of the Ontario market by Ontario-produced fresh and processed agricultural products.
One of the main objectives of the program is to maintain consumer intent to purchase (Ontario) over 80%, thereby assisting Ontario producers to maximize their market share.
To achieve its market objective, Foodland communicates the benefits (economic and product characteristics) of Ontario food, encourages the purchase of Ontario food, co-ordinates promotion and research activities with producer organizations and industry stakeholder, and promotes the Ontario "brand." The target group for these strategies are the primary and secondary food purchasers in Ontario.
Foodland Ontario consists of three program components: brand services, retail services and grower services. All components work in a complementary fashion to address a common target market, the primary and secondary food purchaser.
During the life of the Foodland program, the target market has evolved from the "principal grocery shopper" - mothers 25 to 49 years, to adults 25 to 64 years. The latter definition includes both males and females and reflects recent research that food buying is a shared activity - many households have two "principal grocery shoppers."
History
When the Foodland program began in 1977, the advertising message informed consumers of the wide variety and availability of Ontario-grown food products. Both the theme line "Good things grow in Ontario" and the Foodland Ontario symbol encouraged consumers to buy Ontario by promoting and identifying quality Ontario products. The advertising message evolved further to include economic benefits and commodity specific attributes.
In 1986, the slogan "Good things grow in Ontario" gave way to the more competitive slogan "Ontario, there's no taste like home" in order to better communicate the single most important Ontario food benefit - taste. Consumer communications have involved a two-pronged promotion approach - focusing on "taste" through commodity-specific messages and a “local/home” message.
The introduction of Foodland’s television commercials in 1997 supported a two pronged strategy, the first of which reinforced the attributes of buying fresh, high quality, locally grown produce and introduced the new theme “Invite Ontario home”.These commercials expanded Ontario’s close and local message to mean more than distance (e.g. shared values, strong community and trust).
The second stage of this campaign builds on the attributes of buying fresh, locally grown, high quality produce. It focuses on the more subtle element of trust. Trust refers to trust in Ontario farmers, in their products and in their contribution to the fabric of Ontario’s society and economy.
Retail Services
Retail services identifies and promotes Ontario foods in grocery stores through the distribution of point-of-purchase material and in-store promotions to 1,200 stores across the province by Foodland retail representatives. Thanks to full retailer support, food stores continue to be the main source of awareness of the Foodland Ontario symbol. An annual retailer awards program recognizes the contribution of retailers to the program.
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Brand Services (Media and Public Relations)
Within brand services is the public relations area, which encourages media support for Ontario-grown food products through the development and distribution of media releases, newsletters and broadcast appearances. Consumer publications and other promotional activities are also developed to support Ontario food products.
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Client Services
In client services, Foodland Ontario works closely with commodity groups and associations to share information, encourage co-operation and participation in specific activities and use of the Foodland symbol in their own marketing efforts.
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Market Research
Market research is the foundation of the strategic approach. This research is shared actively with clients through producer services efforts. As part of marketing research, and since the program inception, an advertising tracking study has been conducted annually to measure the success of the program.
Results of the 2007 November study show that 94% of target consumers recognize the Foodland Ontario symbol.
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