Shepard Season Earned Media Campaign: Driving Awareness & Demand

Each year, the arrival of Shepard Avocados marks an exciting milestone in the Australian produce calendar, sparking conversation among consumers and media alike. This seasonal moment presents a unique opportunity to celebrate the variety’s unique qualities and inspire more Australians to embrace Shepard avocados, experiment with new recipes, and confidently choose them as a delicious and nutritious addition to their shopping baskets.

The earned media campaign has so far been highly successful in positioning Shepard avocados in a positive light through strategic media placements, influencer collaborations, and key partnerships.

A standout highlight of the campaign was our exclusive partnership with Sydney sandwich hotspot, Cross Section. The store offered a limited-edition ‘Shepard Avocado Delight’ sandwich to its customers, promoting the variety’s unique qualities. The recipe was also shared, inspiring Aussies to purchase Shepard avocados and recreate the sandwich at home.

Check out the Shepard Avocado Delight Recipe! 👉 HERE

More than 100 Shepard Avocado Delight sandwiches were sold during the two-week period, and the owners of Cross Section are now considering making the sandwich a permanent menu item during Shepard Avocado season.

The partnership was also attracted strong media attention, with head chefs Josh Said and Brent Wasserman interviewed about their use of Shepard avocados in their popular sandwich, providing an opportunity to highlight key attributes of the variety:

🥑  Creamy, Buttery Texture: Shepard Avocados spread perfectly when ripe, creating a protective layer that keeps bread from going soggy.

🥑 Balanced, Nutty Flavour: Their mild, nutty taste enhances other ingredients without overpowering them.

🥑 Stays Vibrantly Green: Unlike other avocados, Shepard Avocados never turn brown, even when cut, perfect for Instagram-worthy sandwiches.

🥑 Easy to Slice: Their smooth flesh guarantees flawless slices or chunks every time.

📈 Key results and coverage

Overall, the campaign generated significant media traction, with 47 pieces of media coverage, reaching a combined audience of more than 3.3 million. Every story reinforced the campaign’s core message – encouraging more Aussies to give Shepard avocados a go and positioning the fruit as a tasty and versatile ingredient for everyday meals.

Coverage highlights:

• Sitchu promoted the Cross Section partnership and sandwich launch, reaching 1.1 million readers.
• Sydney radio station 2GB interviewed North Queensland Avocado Farmer, Matt Kleyn, talking in a positive light about the Shepard variety’s attributes, its’ differences to Hass, and why people should give it a go. The coverage reached 1.9 million listeners.
• ARN Regional Radio spoke with Cross Section’s owners about the benefits of Shepard avocados, and why they are the ‘official avocado of sandwiches’, reaching 21,000 listeners.
• The ARN interview led to an article being syndicated across 40 of its regional online websites, hero-ing the Shepard and revealing the sandwich recipe with the campaign images. This additional coverage is estimated to have reached over 249,000 people.

The media campaign was further amplified by over 10 pieces of influencer content across both paid partnerships and organic user-generated content from Cross Section customers taking to Instagram and TikTok to shout about the limited-edition Shepard sandwich.

Foodie content creators, including @lil_eets (48.6k followers) and @cheftomwalton (389k followers), also took to their channels in partnership with Australian Avocados to share the Shepard Avocado Delight recipe, generating further buzz around the variety.

More Shepard features to come!

Alongside the online and broadcast coverage secured, top tier print publications have also expressed interest in featuring the Shepard avocado, with upcoming coverage including:

• Better Homes and Gardens – Plan to feature the Shepard in their May issue (out April 11)
• Australian Women’s Weekly – Impressed by the campaign, they are working to secure space in their next issue (out in April).
• Gourmet Traveller – Would like to support the Shepard industry and are eager to cover the variety next season.
  

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  This article appears as part of the 28 March 2025 issue of Guacamole.

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