Avocados marketing campaign delivers in FY25

Avocados marketing campaign delivers strong performance in FY25

Australia’s domestic avocado marketing campaign for FY25 is wrapping up with impressive results so far, driving strong awareness, engagement and purchase intent among Australian consumers. Delivered by Hort Innovation, the campaign is supporting the industry’s goal of increasing domestic consumption to 150,000 tonnes by 2026 while contributing to profitable farmgate returns for growers.

By focusing on light buyers and highlighting the taste, versatility and everyday appeal of avocados, the campaign has delivered top-of-mind awareness through paid, earned and owned media activity.

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising

Out-of-home placements have so far played a central role in the campaign by driving mental availability and high visibility across both large and small format media.

Large format OOH:

• Olympic-themed creative was showcased on 61 high-impact digital sites nationally during the Paris Olympics, creating buzz and aligning with a key cultural moment.

Small format OOH/Retail OOH:

• Over 6,000 digital panels were positioned near supermarkets and grocers from July 2024 to March 2025, with a 70% metro / 30% regional split reflecting population density.

So far, large and small format OOH activity has reached over 10 million Australians and delivered more than 187 million impressions, with the average consumer exposed to avocado messaging 18 times.

Retail digital displays – e-commerce 

Digital advertising across Coles and Woolworths online platforms effectively targeted consumers searching for fruit, vegetables, and complementary items like Mexican food and chips. This e-commerce activity supported in-store messaging and helped drive conversion close to the point of purchase.

Across the campaign period, $195 million in avocado sales were recorded at both retailers. Online accounted for 10 per cent of Woolworths sales and 7 per cent at Coles. The strong sales growth was driven by new-to-brand shoppers and increased average spend across the board.

Paid social media

Paid social media activity on Meta and TikTok extended campaign reach to more than 18 million. Always-on short-form video assets and long-form creator content, including creator-led recipe videos, helped reinforce avocados as a versatile, everyday food. TikTok proved particularly effective in reaching younger demographics, delivering incremental reach and engagement. Content that positioned avocados close to the point of consumption resonated particularly well and helped strengthen engagement.

Earned Media

The campaign strategically leveraged culturally relevant moments to capture media attention, highlight new usage occasions, and spark conversation:

• Corn chip safe guacamole (National Avocado Day): Partnering with chef Toby Wilson of Rico’s Tacos, the campaign launched the world’s first “corn chip-safe guacamole,” attracting widespread media coverage including a Daily Telegraph print ad and responses from major chip brands. Potential reach: 3.4 million.
• Royal avocado carriage (King Charles III’s visit): A cheeky activation during the King’s visit to Sydney saw commemorative ‘avocado carriage’ featured on 16 donated large-format billboards across Sydney. Estimated reach: 2.5 million, seen an average of 2.3 times.
• Shepard avocado season: A limited-edition Shepard Avocado Delight sandwich, developed with viral Sydney sandwich shop Cross Section, helped shift sentiment around the variety. Influencers Lil Eets and Tom Walton amplified the activation on social media, leading to the sandwich being dubbed the “official sandwich of the season.” Estimated reach: 3.8 million.

Across the three earned media moments, 26 pieces of news coverage were generated, with a combined potential reach of over 8 million Australians to date.

Owned Media

Owned media channels — including the Australian Avocados Instagram and TikTok pages — kept the brand front-of-mind year-round through entertaining, educational and inspiring content.

A key highlight was the launch of “Pipcom”, a TikTok-native mini-sitcom starring quirky characters Avo, Cado and Pip. The series cleverly embedded health, taste and versatility messages while engaging viewers in a fun, relatable way. Pipcom reached 6.78 million users with strong engagement and positive sentiment.

Complementing this, aesthetic ASMR-style recipe videos produced by influencer Lil Eets delivered an additional 4.65 million in reach across both brand and creator channels, with users resonating with Lilian’s easy, everyday avocado recipes.

Overall, owned media content has achieved a reach of 5.8 million on Meta, 2.9 million on TikTok, with over 16,522 cumulative engagements across all social channels.

Wrapping up

With more than 18 million reached via paid social, over 10 million through out-of-home, and millions more via earned and owned content, the FY25 campaign to date has significantly strengthened consumer awareness, cultural relevance, and purchase intent for Australian Avocados.

AVO-CAN-DO: A Fresh Take on Australian Avocados

The Hort Innovation Avocado Brand Team and creative agency Thinkerbell, in close collaboration with the Avocado Marketing Development Panel, are proud to launch a bold new brand campaign for Australian Avocados – AVO-CAN-DO, So Can You.

Rooted in the insight that Australian Avocados are both delicious and nutritious, the new brand campaign brings these dual benefits to life, highlighting that – because Australian Avocados can do pretty much anything, so can you!

Hitting the key proof points of taste, versatility, and health, the AVO-CAN-DO campaign is all about inspiring Australians to channel their own “can-do” spirit.

A Campaign That Cuts Through

The campaign creative has recently undergone testing via research agency Cubery with overwhelmingly positive results. The campaign outperformed all metrics, +21 above the Cubery rating norm of 52, showing the strength of the idea, with brand positioning noted as ownable and enduring. Visually, the brand’s distinctive assets and bold design resonated well with consumers, delivering the cut-through, while also driving appetite appeal with strong, mouth-watering visuals.

Both film and radio executions of the campaign also tested above Cubery norms, successfully landing product benefits with a dose of bold humor. The messaging is clear while being memorable and entertaining. The film execution outperformed all film narratives, ranking within the top 3% of all films tested by Cubery.

Rolling Out Nationwide

The campaign is now live across Out-of-Home panels and social media, with film and radio assets in production and set to go live across June and July – stay tuned for further updates!

This article is part of the 9 May 2025 issue of Avocados Australia’s enewsletter – Guacamole.

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