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Making waves

The campaign that made a splash

Bananas / Spotlight

Read time: 3 minutes

Bananas are everywhere. They’re a hero of the fruit bowl, a staple in schoolbags, and land in almost every supermarket trolley in the country.

of Australian households buy bananas every year.

For most crops, that would be a dream. For bananas, it creates a challenge.

When almost everyone already buys your product, growth doesn’t come from shouting louder. It comes from finding new moments where your fruit makes sense; new reasons for people to reach for a banana again.

That was the task facing the Australian Bananas marketing team. The question was simple but high‑stakes:

How do you grow demand for a fruit people already think they know?

The idea: a banana becomes a Swim Pass

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The breakthrough came from a behavioural insight: bananas are already seen as a natural source of energy, but mostly at breakfast. Snacking, however, is a much longer consumption window.

So the Marketing Team asked: What if we could turn a banana into a behaviour prompt? What if buying a banana unlocked something fun, active and naturally uplifting?

What if we could:

Get Aussies to bring a banana as their go-to, on-the-go snack to fuel their swim.

Hort Innovation’s Emma Day with Arcella Bananas’ Rosa Arcella-Downie.

On 21 January 2026, that idea hit the water.

For one day only, Australians could buy a banana, bring it to a participating pool, and swim for free. More than 70 venues joined in. A simple fruit became a ticket to the pool, and a new snackable reason to buy.

From fruit bowl to swim bag

The Swim Pass campaign didn’t try to reinvent bananas, it just increased the eating window for this super nutritious fruit:

A banana could be packed for swimming lessons. Grabbed before laps. Shared after a splash with the kids. Kept in the bag as an easy energy top‑up.

On 21 January 2026, that idea hit the water.

For one day only, Australians could buy a banana, bring it to a participating pool, and swim for free. More than 70 venues joined in. A simple fruit became a ticket to the pool, and a new snackable reason to buy.

From fruit bowl to swim bag

The Swim Pass campaign didn’t try to reinvent bananas, it just increased the eating window for this super nutritious fruit:

A banana could be packed for swimming lessons. Grabbed before laps. Shared after a splash with the kids. Kept in the bag as an easy energy top‑up.

From the Farmgate

— Miki Buchanan, Australian Bananas grower

When almost everyone already buys your product, growth comes from giving people a new reason to reach for it again. Swim Pass did exactly that by turning one banana into a pass, a prompt and a fresh demand driver.

Click the speaker icon to hear from Australian Bananas’ Miki Buchanan

From the creative agency Thinkerbell

— Liz Stephens, Thinkerbell

Click on the speaker to hear from Liz Stephens, from creative agency Thinkerbell

The ripple effect

To turn a one‑day activation into a national movement, the campaign used a mix of paid, earned and social activity, each one adding another ripple of impact.

Paid activity made the first splash

Event

Heat

YouTube

people reached

TikTok

people reached

Spotify

ad completion rate

VMO (digital screens)

people reached

Earned media coverage carried the wave further

With Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus as a spokesperson, the campaign generated 515 pieces of coverage and 52.4 million opportunities to see — more than four times the target.

Coverage included The Morning Show, the Herald Sun, over 400 radio spots, regional news, trade and industry outlets and consumer lifestyle titles, such as Time Out.

Sentiment was 100% positive, reinforcing bananas as a natural source of energy and a summer staple.

Earned media coverage carried the wave further

With Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus as a spokesperson, the campaign generated 515 pieces of coverage and 52.4 million opportunities to see — more than four times the target.

Coverage included The Morning Show, the Herald Sun, over 400 radio spots, regional news, trade and industry outlets and consumer lifestyle titles, such as Time Out.

Sentiment was 100% positive, reinforcing bananas as a natural source of energy and a summer staple.

Print coverage

Cairns Post

Page 1/2

The Mercury

Courier Mail

Page 1/2

The Advertiser

Herald Sun

Page 1/2

Radio coverage

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Smooth FM 91.5

Hot 100 FM

4BC

20.1 LAFM

NRN ANR

C91.3 FM

20.01 NRN

ABC Northern Tasmania

Creators kept the idea moving

Influencers played a key role: Olympic gold medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook OAM and elite swimmer Elijah Winnington added sporting credibility, reinforcing the nutritional benefits of bananas for performance. Australian culture, travel and mum-life influencer Alex Tuohey brought humour, charm and family friendly content to the mix.

Their reels delivered a combined 455,000 video views, reached 177,000 people, and generated 5,819 positive engagements (replies, likes, comments, shares) turning Swim Pass into a shareable school‑holiday idea that stretched well beyond the campaign’s paid reach.

Creators kept the idea moving

Influencers played a key role: Olympic gold medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook OAM and elite swimmer Elijah Winnington added sporting credibility, reinforcing the nutritional benefits of bananas for performance. Australian culture, travel and mum-life influencer Alex Tuohey brought humour, charm and family friendly content to the mix.

Their reels delivered a combined 455,000 video views, reached 177,000 people, and generated 5,819 positive engagements (replies, likes, comments, shares), turning Swim Pass into a shareable school‑holiday idea that stretched well beyond the campaign’s paid reach.

Zac Stubblety-Cook OAM

Elijah Winnington

Alex Tuohey

Zac Stubblety-Cook OAM

Elijah Winnington

Alex Tuohey

And importantly, people didn’t just watch. They acted.

The campaign microsite drew 49,450 new visitors and people taking part in the campaign helped spread the message, adding User Generated Content on Instagram and TikTok.