FINAL REPORT. NY09008 Industry & Consumer Insights for the Australian Nursery Industry

Transcription

1 FINAL REPORT NY09008 Industry & Consumer Insights for the Australian Nursery Industry Author: Jacqui Gibbs National Marketing & Communications Manager Nursery and Garden Industry Australia Final Report NY09008 Page 1 of 15

2 Final Report HAL project: NY09008 Completion Date: 10 November 2010 Project Leader: Jacqui Gibbs National Marketing & Communications Manager Nursery and Garden Industry Australia PO Box 907 EPPING NSW 1710 Ph Fax Statement of Purpose The NGIA Industry and Consumer Insight Project is designed to provide supporting materials to the industry to assist with business development and consumer public relations and promotional activities Jacqui Gibbs has written this report as part of the reporting requirements of Horticultural Australia Limited (HAL). Industry funding from the Nursery Products Levy and matched funding from the Federal Government, managed by Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL) is acknowledged. ~ Disclaimer ~ Any recommendations contained in this publication do not necessarily represent current Horticulture Australia policy. No person should act on the basis of the contents of this publication, whether as to matters of fact or opinion or other content, without obtaining specific, independent professional advice in respect of the matters set out in this publication. Final Report NY09008 Page 2 of 15

3 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 INTRODUCTION 4 METHODS & ACTIVITIES 5-6 EVALUATION 7-8 IMPLICATIONS FOR INDUSTRY 9 FINANCIAL REVIEW 9 APPENDICES 10 Final Report NY09008 Page 3 of 15

4 Executive Summary The NGIA Industry and Consumer Insight Project is designed to provide supporting materials to the industry to assist with business development and consumer public relations and promotional activities. The project is comprised of four key segments: Consumer Research, Media Training and Monitoring Environment Stakeholder Relations Industry Relations and Collaboration A similar project has been implemented every year for the past three years to ensure the PR and Communications campaign is relevant to the Australian consumer and achieves its objective to stimulate the increased and profitable sale of green-life. This project differs from previous years with its increased emphasis on assisting industry with meeting the strong environmental and health and well-being objectives as recommended by the Industry Advisory Committee (IAC). The combination of activities within this project are designed to provide the industry with information on consumer needs and market trends and supported by on-going expertise and consultation to enable the development of programs that will meet the communication and promotional objectives of industry. The results from this project are communicated to industry via publications such as Clippings and on the NGIA website, as well as external industry publications such as Green World, Australian Horticulture magazine and Hort Journal. The outcomes will also continue to be used as the platform to ensure that communications, public relations and marketing addresses relevant issues imperative to the future growth of the industry. The development of a Draft Marketing and Communications Strategy for the industry will enable firm plans to be drawn up for that reflect the stakeholder needs as formulated in the Industry Development Needs Report. Final Report NY09008 Page 4 of 15

5 Introduction The Industry and Consumer Insight Project rolls out of the previous projects NY07 and NY08 to provide support data and information for industry and consumer promotions, and business development. 1. Consumer Research: Newspoll Newspoll has been the main research provider used by the NGIA since it was first commissioned in A poll has been undertaken every year to identify consumer trends and attitudes towards gardens and plant-life. The outcome of this research is used to provide relevant, new and interesting information in media campaigns. Customer Attitude Research Consumer attitude research has not been undertaken by industry for several years due to levy constraints. The proposed research to be undertaken within this project was to focus on understanding what is driving consumer habits, needs and wants so to provide industry with information that would enable them to build more relevant business practices in both grower and retail sectors. 2. Media Monitoring & Training Media training has continued to form part of the 06/07, 07/08 and 08/09 communication strategy to provide issues training to CEO s to ensure their confidence and competency as industry media spokespeople. It essential that we continue to prepare them in media protocol and expand the pool to include other personnel who may be called upon for media comment. Previously media monitoring was provided through HAL at no cost and this component was to pay for broadcast media monitoring. As of June 2010 this budget allocation has also been supporting those media services negotiated by HAL on the nursery industry s behalf. 3. Environment Stakeholder Relations One of the outcomes of the Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) is an emphasis on promoting and building the green credentials and practices of the nursery and garden Final Report NY09008 Page 5 of 15

6 industry. An important step in achieving this is building relationships and working closer to environmental stakeholders such as Greening Australia, Green Roofs Australia, Planet Ark, Keep Australia Beautiful and WWF as well as the landscape, building, and urban planning and development opinion leaders. In 2009 NGIA hosted the inaugural Urban Greenscapes Symposium to unveil the benefits of plants and green-life in the urban landscape and bring together all stakeholder groups to drive unity of message and create a stronger platform on which to engage government. Another event of this scale is probably not achievable in the foreseeable future however we now have a suite of research materials we can use to demonstrate the value of Greenlife in the urban environment. 4. Industry Relations and Collaboration Marketing Committee Meetings The Marketing Committee was originally formed in 2006 to oversee the Consumer Marketing campaign which at the time was a significant investment of levy funds. The committee has a role in providing strategic direction into PR, Marketing and communication activities. It charter is to meet twice a year however can meet more frequently, if required. Industry Collaboration The aim of this part of the project was to seek industry s perspective on the value of plants and combine it with research undertaken on consumer attitudes towards the value of plants. It was anticipated the combination of perspectives would provide the best data to build a strategy and streamline our messaging to drive an effective consumer campaign. As a result of focus group research undertaken in March/April 2010 and the change of focus to the industry campaign, Improve Your Plant/ Life Balance this activity has become a state by state group consultation rather than a survey soliciting individual responses. Final Report NY09008 Page 6 of 15

7 Methods & Activities Consumer Research Newspoll In 2010 the Newspoll undertaken focused on employee (consumer) attitudes towards green-life in the workplace, in particular the occurrence of plants and their impact on productivity and appeal as a place to work. This research underpins the media relations to support the new industry marketing initiative, Improve Your Plant/Life Balance. A media launch was held at the Royal Botanic Gardens where the findings were released to over 30 journalists from a variety of magazines covering: women, lifestyle, house and design, gardening and health magazines. The results of this research will continue to underpin the PR activities supporting the Plant/Life Balance marketing initiative for October 2010 until March The survey questions, findings, media release and proposed coverage are attached in Appendix 1. Consumer Attitude Research Focus Groups to ascertain consumer attitude towards plants as a solution to climate change and the environmental concerns and evaluate the porpsed marketing campaign messages. Outcomes included in Appendix 2 A series of three groups were tested covering male and female, gardeners and non-gardeners and adults years. The findings highlighted: Climate change was not an appealing line or phrase The link between plants and the environment need to be clearly explained in personal benefit terms People were interested in things like lowering their energy bill, reducing their grocery bill, Lack of knowledge is a key barrier to buying more plants The public need to be educated to engae them further in buying plants. One on One Interviews to better understand the knowledge and perceptions of the general public with regards to plants and gardening. Final Report NY09008 Page 7 of 15

8 A sample size of 500 visitors who described themselves as gardeners were interviewed face to face at the NGINA display stand at the Sydney Royal Easter Show The findings highlighted: Gardeners shop for plants quarterly or monthly Spend between $101 and $500 annually on green-life Purchasing drivers are quality, type and where the plant is going Feel there is as strong link between the environment and gardens particularly for attracting wildlife and cutting food miles Shop predominantly at garden centres LOHAS This is an acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, a term used to describe a type of consumer and also the marketplace for the goods and services they seek. This report was purchased by NGIA to provide greater insights into consumer behaviour and potential target audiences for plant products. The report is a summary of the outcomes of a national quantitative survey that was executed by Mobium Group to collect an extensive inventory of the values, attitudes and actions of adult Australians. The question set included 300 measures and was conducted across a sample size of 2012 respondents aged between 18 and 69 from all states of Australia in both the metropolitan and regional areas. This report is of benefit to the nursery and garden industry as it provides a target market we can target with messages and information demonstrating the health and wellbeing and environmental benefits of plants. It also assists us with media placement and enabling us to more accurately target this consumer. The findings highlighted LOHAS consumers: make choices that reflect their desire for healthier and more sustainable lives Care deeply about a range of personal, community and planetary health and wellness issues. Represent all age groups, have a variety of household income levels, diverse educational backgrounds and live in both metropolitan and rural areas. Spend significant amounts of money across a range of consumer categories Spend between $101 and $500 annually on green-life Require information and source it from areas such as the internet, friends and family, reviews by consumer groups/environmental organisations and product packaging. Final Report NY09008 Page 8 of 15

9 Media Training and Monitoring The plan was for media training to be conducted in 2008/9 to focus on training specific spokespeople in media protocols to ensure that they are across the board in their areas of expertise. This is a more focussed approach than previous years where we have concentrate on ensuring that state CEO s are media trained. This aspect of the project was not undertaken as NGI was waiting the development of the Across Industry Crisis Management protocol before investing. This will be undertaken in the future. The budget set aside to undertake this research was deemed by the Marketing Committee to be an excessive amount. Consequently we undertook two smaller studies and purchased a third. Environmental Communications The focus on Environmental Communications focussed on the activities linked with the Urban Greenscape Symposium and the NGI hosted several media communications events both in Sydney and Canberra to ensure that the key messages aligned from the key speakers was communicated. The ongoing liaison with participants will ensure that industry can direct key environmental messages in an appropriate manner. Marketing/Communications Committee The Marketing/Communications Committee was formed in early 2006 to provide collaborative comment on developing strategic PR and marketing initiatives for the industry. The committee met in 2009 and undertook a complete review of the program and direction for the future. Minutes are attached along with the draft Marketing and communications plan. Final Report NY09008 Page 9 of 15

10 Summary of Activities and next steps: Activities Outputs Outcomes B 1. Newspoll Newspoll Report (Attachment 1) Industry promotion of findings (Attachment 2) The findings from the July 2009 Newspoll Study were used to provide news angles for the media for the Spring Media Launch. The information was also provided to industry to assist in industry 2. Media Training (On-going) 3. Environment Relations Media Training Plan pending development of Industry Crisis Management Plan Environment Database & Communications contacts established planning. A Media Training Session will be conducted with NGIA CEO and Environmental Policy Manager in 2010 Build stakeholder relations to drive the green credentials of the industry. 4. Communications /Marketing Committee Meetings held The new committee comprises: Bryan Hillier (Chair) Mike Skegg Jeff Cooke Judy Horton John van der Horst Composition changed in October 2009 Geoff Richards (chair) Judy Horton Matt de Ville Gary Spink John Van Der Horst Final Report NY09008 Page 10 of 15

11 To ensure that the momentum started with the outcomes from this project it is recommended that the project NY09008 be contracted as it will hone in on the key aspects of the consumer needs with regards to plants in the Urban environment. The media training will be undertaken as the Crisis Management Project has been completed. One of the key outcomes of the Industry Development Needs Assessment was for Communications to be Targeted to key sectors of the industry and this is reflected in the Plan attached. Final Report NY09008 Page 11 of 15

12 Evaluation Final Report NY09008 Page 12 of 15

13 Implications for Industry Final Report NY09008 Page 13 of 15

14 Financial Review Funding Update Activity Number Activity Description Budget ($) Actual Expenditure 1 Newspoll 25,000 26,500 2 Media Training and Media monitoring 3 Environmental Communications 30, ,000 14,500 4 Mar/Comms Committee 15,000 15,000 TOTALS 85,000 64,500 Funds received from HAL $54, (Aug 22, 2008) Expenditure $64, Balance due NGIA $10, Funds not utilised $20, Final Report NY09008 Page 14 of 15

15 Appendices Appendices: Newspoll results Media output from NewsPoll results Environmental Communications summary Marketing Committee Meeting documents Agenda, Minutes Draft Marketing and Communications Plan Final Report NY09008 Page 15 of 15