Stage 1:
Groundwork
Infant formula exporting is Ireland’s best kept secret.
The Bord Bia Consumer Insights Team’s job is to promote
this growth even further through creating a compelling
brand through our Origin Green Programme.
BRANDING WORKBOOK
Billion Dollar Baby
Growing the success of Irish food & horticulture
Stage 2:
Building Brands
Stage 3:
Expression
BRANDING WORKBOOK
Billion Dollar Baby
PROJECT BACKGROUND
One in seven children in the world drink products manufactured by
producers in Ireland. 2014, Irish infant formula exports were valued
at over €900 million; Infant milk formula (IMF) is well on the way to
becoming Ireland’s billion euro growth industry.
Given the projected growth in IMF consumption in China, Bord Bia
began development of an export strategy for our major dairy and IMF
producers in 2013. The missing piece in the strategic jigsaw was how
would we brand Ireland and Origin Green to consumers in China?
This case study details how consumer research was fundamental
to that branding process.
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
CONSUMER ISSUE
The overall objective of this project was
to convince Ireland’s IMF producers and
Ireland’s dairy industry that there is merit in
investing in an Irish origin brand in China.
Chinese consumers know little about
Ireland. They know the name, they thought
the country might be ‘part of the UK’
and little else. The irony of consumers
ignorance about Ireland was compounded
by virtue of the fact that the most premium
brand on the market (Wyeth Illuma) was
100% Irish origin. This brand had grown
dramatically in recent years, enjoying a
super-premium price point and marketing
itself as ‘state of art’ in product formulation.
Perhaps this was a clue to what Ireland
could do to stand-out from the crowd…
The industry are very much aware that
major players such New Zealand, Australia
and the Netherlands had long since
established a reputation as the leading
source of infant milk formula in the Chinese
market. Ireland, despite supplying so
many products to the market, enjoyed
little awareness as a product source.
As a result our research needed to present
a compelling case for promoting Ireland
as an origin and needed to be grounded
in clear evidence that Chinese consumers
were interested in this proposition.
Stage 1:
Groundwork
Stage 2:
Building Brands
Stage 3:
Expression
THE PROCESS
The Consumer Insights Team’s role was to immerse
ourselves in the world of the Chinese consumer and come up
with a compelling brand for Irish IMF products. We worked
through the Branding Workbook from Stage 1: Groundwork;
to Stage 3: Expression.
HOW DID WE HELP?
Stage 1: Groundwork:
Given the role this research would play
in winning the hearts and minds of the
major multi-nationals, we needed to
insure the audience for our research
really believed we had a grasp on the
Chinese consumer. This involved living
with them, in their homes between
May and June of 2014.
By presenting research results that came
from face-to-face consumer immersion
at stage one and getting really ‘deep’
into consumers lives the credibility of
our findings were greatly enhanced.
Stage 2: Building brands:
This understanding of the consumer
was then brought into Brand Clinics
which allowed us to build on stage
one, meaning we were in a position
to develop written concepts for Origin
Green that were grounded in the
language of the category.
At stage two we built the Origin Green
brand (and explored sustainability
as a concept) from the ground up.
Painstakingly exploring the Mandarin
translation for every aspect of the
Origin Green brand.
Stage 3: Expression:
Finally, at stage three, we tested
consumer facing copy and imagery.
Through literal, interpretative and
semiotic analysis we developed the final
marketing messages for Origin Green
in China.
Advertising, online and other marketing
materials that can support Irish IMF
brands were developed directly as a
result of this process.
WHAT WERE THE
INSIGHTS?
As anticipated, country of origin
was a big driver of brand choice
in the category. Our stage one
ethnography and consumer safaris
allowed us to understand attitudes
to the key imported brands and the
role country of origin was playing.
Given the issues that China faces
with food safety and environmental
pollution, our hypothesis was that
communicating Ireland’s commitment
to sustainability could prove to be a
key point of difference. But how do
you talk about a complex concept
like ‘sustainability’ to consumers who
live in a country where environmental
decay is widespread and uncontrolled?
Ireland has led the world in introducing
the world’s first ‘Sustainable Dairy
Quality Assurance Scheme’. The
high-standards that Ireland demands
in food production could be a point
of difference for our nation-brand
in China but communicating that
message would be complicated.
During stages one and two we spent
hours exploring the language of
sustainability, breaking it down into
its core elements and translating it
into 24 key words in Mandarin. In the
stage two Brand Clinics, we worked
to ‘map’ those keywords, producing
a brand model for Origin Green that
detailed all the language that was
important to Chinese consumers.
Chinese consumers value ‘balance’
in their food and in their lives.
This concept of balance is evident
in many aspects of Chinese
culture and philosophy.
The key to communicating Origin
Green and Ireland’s commitment
to sustainability was therefore
to communicate the country’s
commitment to a ‘philosophy of
balanced food production’.
WHAT WAS THE IMPACT
ON THE BUSINESS?
China is on the way to being
the Billion Dollar Baby. Crucially,
branding IMF ‘Origin Green’ or
Irish origin now allows producers
to command the ‘super premium’
prices the likes of Illuma enjoy.
As key players come on stream
with branded Irish Origin IMF, the
volume and value of Irish IMF in
China will continue to grow.
By the end of 2016 we expect
exports of Irish origin IMF to
China to hit €1billion.
That growth will be grounded
on the consumer insights
generated by this work.
Bord Bia will be supporting Irish origin
food in China with the compelling
message that “Ireland Believes In
Origin Green” – a form of words that
when translated to Mandarin proves
very motivating and opens doors for
other food sectors beyond IMF.
Bord Bia’s Branding Workbook
This process was developed using best practice techniques detailed in Bord Bia’s
Branding Workbook.
For more information contact:
E-mail: info@bordbia.ie
Telephone: (01) 6885155
Growing the success of Irish food & horticulture