Kiwifruit Brand Zespri's Teams up with Volleyball Star Zhu Ting to Make Healthy Irresistible

Global brand experience agency, VMLY&R has launched a new creative campaign for Zespri’s SunGold Kiwifruit in China, with the help of super influencer and Captain of China’s national women’s volleyball team, Zhu Ting.

Zespri is the world’s leading kiwifruit brand, working on behalf of more than 4300 growers in New Zealand and around the world with operating revenues of US$2.2billion. 

Entitled ‘Enjoy Health with Gusto’ the 360° campaign aims to highlight the health benefits and enjoyment of the ‘Cut, Scoop, Enjoy,’ ritual of eating Zespri’s SunGold Kiwifruit for consumers across China, working closely with popular award-winning Olympic athlete Zhu Ting, as the face and embodiment of the Zespri brand. 

Across China, healthy living is often seen as a daily battle, governed by seriousness, hard work, anxiety and trade-offs that are hard to sustain. The new campaign aims to dispel this myth by awakening consumers to the naturally healthy and enjoyable sensorial experience of Zespri’s SunGold Kiwifruits, which contain 100% of a person’s recommended daily vitamin C intake in just two kiwifruits.

Emphasising just how easy it is to enjoy Zespri’s SunGold Kiwifruits as part of a healthy lifestyle, sports icon Zhu Ting drives home the ‘Cut, Scoop, Enjoy,’ across the marketing mix, including the campaign TVC, artwork and content for social campaigns spanning Weibo, Douyin, and WeChat. To really bring the Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit experience to life for consumers, the campaign also saw numerous pop-up activations taking place in malls across Shanghai, to allow consumers to try the delicious fruit for themselves.

‘Enjoy Health with Gusto’, is part of the first wave of tailor-made campaigns from VMLY&R to deliver Zespri’s brand proposition, “Make Your Healthy Irresistible”, across markets in Asia, China, the United States and Europe, through communications, experience, commerce and technology. 

Commenting on the campaign, VMLY&R China executive creative director, Kienhoe Ong, said: “Working on this seasonal launch campaign gave us the opportunity to build something truly connected for Zespri. It allowed us to find unique and creative ways to bring ‘cut, scoop, enjoy’ to life for consumers, working to co-create campaigns, from conception through to strategy and creative. We were also able to go beyond online videos to explore offline activations like pop-up stores and social activations to show Chinese consumers the benefits of Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit.”

KokHwee Ng, Zespri, Greater China marketing director, said: “Solving the issue of how to eat healthily without compromising on taste and enjoyment is a key challenge for Chinese consumers. This is where Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit comes in! The campaign is based on the proposition that ‘it’s only healthy if you enjoy it,’ aiming to show just how easy it is to make Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit part of your healthy eating plan, with minimal effort and maximum enjoyment.”

VMLY&R and Zespri International Limited have continued to expand their relationship since announcing their global AOR relationship. Zespri appointed a WPP global integrated team in September 2020 with VMLY&R leading the strategic and creative leadership.