Massey marketing students serve up fresh ideas for Kiwi Crunch

Each semester, students in Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University’s 156.756 postgraduate Digital Marketing course are partnered with a commercial business to explore a current marketing challenge. This semester, the brief focused on Kiwi Crunch’s Dazzle apple — a premium New Zealand-grown variety developed for export markets, particularly in Asia.

Digital Marketing Senior Lecturer Dr Phoebe Fletcher says the opportunity to work with external companies adds both relevance and motivation for students.

“When students know their work will be seen by professionals in the industry, it really lifts the quality of what they produce. It gives them a sense of purpose beyond the classroom and offers valuable insight into how digital marketing operates in the real world,” Dr Fletcher says.

Kiwi Crunch exports over 30,000 tonnes of fruit annually to more than 28 countries. The Dazzle apple, developed in New Zealand over a 20-year period, is one of the company’s hero products. Sweet, vibrant and designed for visual impact, Dr Fletcher says it was the ideal candidate for students to work on — blending story-driven branding with global marketing challenges.

Students researched Kiwi Crunch’s market positioning and the competitive landscape, developed brand personas, refined digital objectives and created integrated campaign plans specifically for the Dazzle apple. This marketing plan assessment comprised  50 per cent of their final grade for the course.

Kiwi Crunch Marketing Manager and Massey University alumni Anna Catley says she was impressed by the level of insight and creativity in the assignments.

“We thoroughly enjoyed reading the student work and were extremely impressed by the high calibre of information captured and the creative, well-justified marketing strategies presented. It’s been a pleasure being a small part of their learning and the quality of thinking gave us lots of great ideas to consider.”

Anna completed a Bachelor of Communication, majoring in marketing, at Massey, and says the project felt like a full-circle moment. She has since held roles with several horticulture exporters, including a marketing role with Rockit Apples.

Kiwi Crunch exports over 30,000 tonnes of fruit annually to more than 28 countries and was recently recognised for excellence in sustainability at the ExportNZ ASB Hawke’s Bay Export Awards. Known for its strong presence in the Asian market, the company is looking to further strengthen its brand identity in a competitive space.

Senior Lecturer Dr Phoebe Fletcher says projects like this not only showcase the capabilities of Massey students but also help forge strong, lasting connections with industry.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see our students being taken seriously by professionals and producing work that adds real value. Partnerships like this help us stay closely aligned with industry needs, while supporting students to build confidence and capability for the next step in their careers.”