Asia-Pacific’s leading entertainment, production and content agency, MGI Entertainment, has announced a new campaign for Australasia’s iconic food and cooking brands.
The campaign, #Cook2Connect, features an impressive line-up of Australia’s top chefs and foodies, led by Manu Feildel, and encourages Australians to “share a plate with a mate.”
Products from brands such as Perfection Fresh, D’Orsogna, Kenwood, Nature Nate’s Honey, NH Foods Australia, Patak’s, Rio Vista Olives and TEFAL will be used by the culinary clique in a series of exquisitely produced short films to be delivered across socials throughout September and October.
The vignettes will see the products brought to life as Australia’s most-loved cooking icons bring viewers inside their kitchens, showing them how to prepare dishes that are meaningful to them, while they share the intimate memories behind the meals.
Amidst record levels of loneliness and food insecurity, the videos will also have a timely call to action. Audiences will be inspired to share a meal with a loved one and make a donation to OzHarvest, Australia’s leading food rescue organisation providing meals to those in need.
#Cook2Connect builds on the success of MGI Entertainment’s 2020 campaign, #HomeCooked, which also raised funds for OzHarvest.
#HomeCooked generated almost 4 million media impressions and a social media reach of 544,200 for participating brands. It also allowed OzHarvest to deliver an additional 300,000 meals to Australians experiencing food insecurity.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Australia, OzHarvest has:
- Diverted 13,311,880 kgs of food from landfill via its Food Rescue program
- Provided 48,602,772 meals to food insecure Australians
- Created 892,487 cooked meals for food-insecure Australians
Byron Keane, general manager of content at MGI Entertainment, said: “Consumers today want more from the brands that they engage with. They want brands to be aligned with the causes they care about.
“The thinking behind #Cook2Connect was to provide an avenue for brands to develop emotional connections with target consumers while helping raise much-needed funds for OzHarvest.”
Michael Simonetta, CEO of Perfection Fresh, said: “Perfection Fresh was proud to be a part of the #HomeCooked campaign in 2020, so #Cook2Connect was a natural fit for us in 2021.
“As an Australian family-owned business for over 40 years, the campaign aligns with our mission to inspire a healthier world by connecting people to sustainable fresh food.”
Andrew McDonald, director of marketing and sales at NH Foods Australia, said: “We are proud to be involved for the first time in the #Cook2Connect campaign.
“We’ve been producing quality Australian beef for over 43 years in this country and our aim is simple: to provide the best paddock to plate experience and sharing the joy of eating which leads to a happy and healthy life.”
OzHarvest’s head of impact, Ashley Killeen, said: “The last year has been challenging for everyone and we’ve seen so many new people turning to charities for the first time in their lives.
“The generosity and support from the community have been amazing and we are so thankful for MGI Entertainment and the #Cook2Connect campaign, helping to raise valuable funds. Every dollar donated allows us to deliver two meals to Australians in need.”
