Awareness Month CAMPAIGN SUCCESS
BY NIKI FORD CEO, AUSTRALIAN ORGANIC LTD
It gives me enormous pleasure to reflect on what is now the seventh Australian Organic Awareness Month (AOAM). While I experienced the first four AOAMs as a certified organic processor through my role as National Sales Manager for Kadac and Eco-Farms during 2014-2017; the past three events, from 2018-2020, have been quite personal for me. Initially in 2018, I was engaged as a consultant by Australian Organic to project manage the campaign. More recently, in 2019 and 2020, I am now proudly the CEO of Australia’s Peak Industry Body who is the owner of the most successful awareness campaign for certified organic. When I first joined Australian Organic Limited as a consultant in 2018, I could not be more excited as the AOAM campaign intertwined with my passion and my skillset. I was so proud to work on the campaign and it was a pure delight to bring names like Lola Berry and Dr Sarah Lantz on board that year. The 2020 campaign brief was all about bringing organic to the mainstream market, which was the key driver to signing Lincoln Lewis; an accomplished Australian actor, traveller and healthy lifestyle advocate. Lincoln’s down to earth attitude, genuine curiosity and passion for discovering what it really means to be certified has made his journey the perfect education median to promote the benefits of a certified organic lifestyle. In previous AOAM campaigns, AOL have partnered with Teresa Cutter, Carla Oates, Tracey Spicer, Luke Hines, Pete Evans, Zoe Naylor, Elle Halliwell, Therese Kerr and Magdalena Rose - altogether 29 personalities who have proudly shared their passion for the certified organic industry. Modelled on the enormously successful Organic September in the UK (hosted by the Soil Association),
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AUSTRALIAN ORGANIC CONNECT
AOAM has grown each year in coverage and content. Over the seven years since AOAM launched there have been 61 brands partaking in the campaign, many of them returning sponsors. Arcadian’s Cleaver’s brand has been a sponsor of AOAM for 6 years. “We strongly believe that the AOAM presence has developed since we first become sponsors. The AOAM reports that the team present every year post activity are a proof of that, along with the constantly growing organic community, the consumer reach is wider with every campaign. The events, social media content and PR activities are every time more significant,” commented Paul da Silva, Marketing Manager of Arcadian Natural & Organic Meat Co. Many other brands have returned year on year as campaign supporters. Seasol are in their fifth year; Angove Family Wines, bean ground & drunk and Macro have all participated four times; and there is an enormous list of three-year supporters including Coles, Bertolli, Bellamy’s, Murray River Organics, Inglewood, Kadac, Absolute Organic, Barambah Organics, Thomas Chipman, Borderland Organics and Five:am. Regardless of the number of years of support, each brand has made AOAM what it is today. See the full list of sponsors opposite. While originally supported by Bud licensees only, the past two years AOAM has been supported by AUS-QUAL certification body and most recently this year, NASAA Certified Organic joined in celebrating Australia’s largest certified organic consumer campaign. If you want to share in the celebration and do not know how, head to the AOAM website to download your campaign material. Get involved and help educate consumers to look for a certification logo such as the Bud.
