Here at DLK Partners we do like a challenge…

Our client Rush Group, top potato traders, enlisted our help and then at our first meeting told us that they didn’t know what we could do for them, as the vegetable industry doesn’t do marketing!

To prove or disprove this point, we took an early morning trip down to New Covent Garden Market in Vauxhall to investigate further. Walking through all the market stalls, it seemed, unsurprisingly that Rush Group were right, the vegetable traders were real ‘stick in the muds’ when it came to any form of promotional marketing. However, the fruit stalls were bursting with all types of marketing items – posters, flags, leaflets – you name it, they had it on their stalls. When we discussed this with Rush Group, they agreed that the vegetable industry was stuck in the dark ages and that of course had to change.

DLK Partners do not believe in each industry having its own marketing and design rules – in fact we believe the more creative and strategic cross-fertilisation you can engage in, the better the results. Therefore we approached the humble potato, in particular the new French variety Amandine, from a distinctly lifestyle point of view.

Rush Group were keen to raise the profile of this luxurious tuber, as outside specialist circles it was relatively unknown, and they had a load sitting in cold storage they were keen to shift them.  Our first task was to brand Amandine potatoes as something desirable, special and high quality. We did this by playing on the ‘French’ aspect of the potato, by using the country’s national colours and traditional Art Nouveau style typeface as the basis for the Amandine identity, alongside some specially commissioned photographs and the strapline – ‘The superior French salad potato’. In fact we treated this potato as we would do any of the other luxury items and services we work with on a daily basis.

The next task was to find the hook – something to create some energy and interest. The solution – run a competition to find the best original recipe that used Amandines as its main ingredient. We created a promotional pack that would be handed out via the wholesalers to their end customers, which included small shops, restaurants, old people homes and hotels. This pack included, sample recipes, posters and an information leaflet, all encouraging people to post their original recipes on Rush Group’s website, with the best recipe winning a cookery course at one of London’s top cookery schools.

The campaign is still running, but from all the positive feedback we are getting, Rush Group’s Amandine campaign is certainly causing a stir, as rules have been broken and lines have been crossed – but all in a good way of course.

Being the first to do something is both exciting and daunting, but we believe that it should not be used as a reason for not doing it. Luckily for DLK Partners, our client agreed with us and backed our marketing initiatives all the way and was prepared to look at their business from a new angle.