Rockit scoops marketing awards

The makers of snack-sized apple recently took out the Marketing Team of the Year award at the TVNZ NZ Marketing Awards and the Marketing Campaign of the Year Award at the Asia Fruit Awards in Hong Kong last week.

At a ceremony held at Spark Arena on Wednesday, Rockit’s global marketing team accepted the Team of the Year award for its collaboration across the entire business to drive Rockit results and growth in a challenging year.

Rockit general manager global marketing Julian Smith says the team were nominated by the business for its strong response to Cyclone Gabrielle which brought unforeseen challenges amid what was set to be Rockit’s strongest season yet.

“It’s been a challenging year for our teams, growers, and the business with Cyclone Gabrielle wiping out 30% of our crop,” says Smith.

“It was incredible that everyone was accounted for across the business and the team really rallied, finding a way to put more product into market and remodelling the global business marketing model with all stakeholders to put the company in a position to meet its KPI’s,” he says.

“Led by the marketing team, Ready. Set. Rockit. became a call to arms to drive out culture across the business, while also localising in key markets to engage consumers and create value added marketing. We couldn’t be prouder to accept this award which is a credit to the entire Rockit supply chain – from our growers, to our orchard, packhouse, office and global teams – in a tough year,“ says Smith.

Rockit was also awarded the AsiaFruit Marketing Campaign of the Year Award for its innovative efforts in China, through its collaboration with world-leading entertainment franchise, Pokémon, in an extensive 12-week omnichannel campaign to celebrate China Children’s Day on 1 June.

The annual awards celebrate excellence and recognise outstanding achievement across Asia’s fresh produce business.

Pokémon character Pikachu featured prominently across Rockit’s channels in China, including digital and social activity, in-store activations, events, packaging, and promotional materials.

“We are incredibly proud to have won the Asia Fruit Award for Marketing Campaign of the Year for our consumer-led, omnichannel campaign through our collaboration with Pokémon,” says Smith.

“Pokémon stands out as one of the world’s leading branded properties, enabling us to connect with millions of new consumers who are looking for innovative brands that are fun, engaging and highly collectable for all ages.

“This recognition is another significant milestone towards our goal of becoming the world’s most loved apple brand, and we’re excited to be encouraging millions more consumers to try something new, do something different and Ready. Set. Rockit!”