Oporto branches to TV, expands stores

By AdNews | 31 October 2008

SYDNEY: Oporto has launched its first major TV campaign as it aims to expand both locally and internationally.

Oporto has launched a TV campaign plugging its Bondi roots through agency Frontier Media and media agency Mitchells, appointed last month.

In addition to the TV campaign, Oporto stores will undergo a redesign, in a bid to tackle bigger players KFC, McDonald's and Red Rooster, said Oporto’s national marketing manager, Jason Piggott.

Oporto has almost doubled its marketing spend over the past year, now in the vicinity of $4.5 million to the end of next June, Piggot said.

Oporto has in the past relied on targeted marketing with its "Just gotta go" radio jingles, billboards and "Pimp my Ride" Kombi.

"While we’ve had great success with quirky marketing in Sydney, we were preaching very much to the converted. We are going back to our Bondi roots to make sure our new customers understand the Oporto brand," Piggot said.

The Oporto brand was “built on radio”, Piggot said, but TV would allow the company to aim for a “compelling story” that could be translated internationally.

“Part of the reason for a whole brand refresh has been about coming up with a platform that is transferable in overseas markets. We have tapped into the Aussie nature of brand that has been a key part of it for the past five years, but in a contemporary way,” Piggot said.

With a steady roll-out of 20 Australian stores per annum, Oporto will open 10 stores locally before Christmas and its first UK outlet in London’s Victoria Station, in addition to plans for a store in west coast America next year.

The brand’s "Born in Bondi" positioning allowed it to transfer to markets like London with a point of difference to its bigger competitors, Piggot said.

“That 100% Aussie image gives us a unique point of difference to the big boys [in the market],” he said.

Piggot joined Oporto earlier this year from BBQs Galore.

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