Australian Pork Limited

CHALLENGE

To provide strategic crisis communications advice to amplify and extend Australian Pork Ltd’s (APL) key messages of safety and reassurance, help turn around consumer sentiment and ultimately rebuild sales.

DATA

Australian pork sales plummeted following the global spread of swine flu (A/H1N1) in late April 2009. Significant media coverage on the outbreak of the disease triggered the slump in sales as consumer sentiment continued to plunge. A key online poll in late April 2009 showed 27 per cent of consumers had been put off eating pork.

INSIGHT

Australian consumers were incorrectly associating swine flu with consumption of pork which was a profound deterrent to purchase.

APPROACH

To calm public concern and address this confusion, our issues management team worked with APL to identify key media to communicate messages (delivered predominantly by CEO Andrew Spencer) about the safety of consuming Australian pork to broadcast media in every state, as well as national and metro print and online.

We set up a war-room that worked closely with APL and key stakeholders to identify and disseminate key messages that would resonate with media, opinion leaders and consumers. The messages focussed on reassuring consumers that it was safe to eat Australian pork and that there was no link between consumption of the meat and contracting the disease. Vets, disease specialists and politicians were encouraged to reassure consumers about the low risk factors associated with eating pork, and we developed a list of aligned spokespeople for the media to interview.

Quantum surveys allowed APL to track consumer sentiment and buying intention. The statistics were used in interviews and helped to measure the success of the campaign. We also used social media monitoring to track the penetration and adoption of APL key messages. Tracking revealed that stories published in traditional media were engaging online users, who were interacting by correcting errors and providing links to accurate reports.

SUCCESS

APL messages appeared in more than 650 reports between April 27 and May 10, 2009, and reached over 6.4 million consumers. Within one week, negative consumer sentiment had fallen to 6 per cent, and within one month sales of Australian pork had returned to normal. By June 1, 2009, a Quantum poll showed only 3 per cent of consumers revealing they were much less likely to consume pork. APL deemed the crisis management campaign a tremendous success, preventing the potential collapse of business and the loss of thousands of jobs.

This campaign topped the crisis management sections of both the PRIA National and NSW Golden Target Awards 2010.