Community and grassroots-led campaigns have never been so important in this post-COVID world, with an increased appetite from the media for meaningful and inspiring Aussie stories.  

But how do you execute an effective, genuine grassroots campaign that reaches the right audiences? 

Our recent work with Nestlé Professional, the company’s out-of-home food and beverage services arm, did just that! 

The client brief: Celebrating community spirit 

Supporting Australian communities is very important to Nestlé Professional, with several regional towns powering some of the company’s most iconic brands, like NESCAFÉ BLEND 43 and MILO.  

Knowing the tough times many regions have faced over the past few years, Nestlé Professional wanted to help through the launch of its community grants promotion, ‘Serve Your Community’. 

The program called on small businesses and community groups across Australia to nominate local initiatives for the chance to win one of three $10,000 grants.  

IMPACT was engaged from the outset to launch the competition, drive entries from local businesses and promote the announcement of the winners. 

The campaign: Serve Your Community 

Tasked with executing this significant campaign, IMPACT undertook a hyper-local grassroots media strategy.   

While initially launching to business, food service trade and regional media Australia-wide, IMPACT developed three key strategic pillars to ensure the purpose and community social impact of the initiative remained front and centre of the campaign. 

Highlighting Nestlé Professional’s partnership with Rotary in Australia ensured an authentic connection to each community. 

The outcomes: Providing a platform for local stories 

Never underestimate the importance of grassroots campaigns or the opportunity to elevate local stories.  

IMPACT achieved hyper-local coverage for the winners of the three major prizes in Bendigo (VIC), Darwin (NT), and Texas (QLD), along with extensive foodservice trade coverage for Nestlé Professional’s core audience.  

While offering media interviews with the local spokespeople from each community group was pivotal to ensuring local voices were heard, communicating the tangible outcomes from the winning initiatives was what allowed us to achieve meaningful media cut-through. 

In addition to media outreach, to truly hero these communities, IMPACT also developed the Serve Your Community campaign video. You can hear the touching winning stories here.