Easter isn’t all about chocolate and eggs; it is also an important religious celebration for many Christians around the world. Hot Cross Buns have traditionally been eaten on Good Friday and are closely associated with this holiday season.The Tip Top Hot Cross Bun Drive offers fundraisers the chance to sell hot cross buns to students, families and other local community members to raise funds for World Youth Day 2008. It is a joint initiative between George Weston Foods, the World Youth Day Committee, Catholic Education Officers and the Catholic community. Serge is an assistant brand manager at George Weston Foods working on the Tip Top brand. He is a member of the project team that is involved in their hot cross bun fundraiser.


How long have you worked for Tip Top?
I’ve been at Tip Top for just over two years. I started in the graduate management trainee program where I rotated through the business in various roles including operations, finance and marketing. After the program finished I moved into a permanent role within the marketing department where I am now assistant brand manager for the Tip Top brand.

What qualifications do you have?
I completed a Bachelor of Business with an Honours major in marketing at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Why did you choose to pursue a career in marketing?
I’ve always liked this area of business, ever since I completed business and economics subjects at high school.

What do you do as assistant brand manager?
I assist the senior brand manager with the planning and execution of Tip Top marketing plans. I am involved in new product development, product launches, advertising communications, consumer research, packaging updates and consumer promotions. Consumer promotions are short-term strategies designed to increase sales and generally involve incentives for consumers to purchase our brands.

How are you involved in the Tip Top Hot Cross Bun Drive?
We have been planning this fundraiser since August last year and I’m the project manager responsible for the marketing activities, packaging requirements, sales forecasts and factory level operations.

Why has Tip Top chosen to pursue this promotion?
It’s a good opportunity for Tip Top to demonstrate corporate social goodwill by partnering with the community. It is also an excellent distribution opportunity for Tip Top to access new customers outside of the grocery channel.

What has been the response to the Hot Cross Bun Drive so far?
We have over 640 national customers who have registered to take part in the drive – this includes 500 schools and 140 community groups.

How many hot cross buns will be produced for this event?
We only produce buns in the months leading up to Easter and a few weeks afterwards. During a typical three-month period we produce over one million packs of buns, but we hope to produce an extra 100 000 this year for World Youth Day.

What marketing strategies are you using to gain awareness of this event?
The main activity we have been using is direct mail and electronic direct mail, where we send out flyers and communications to our potential customers. There is an online component which ensures that we have visibility on the World Youth Day website where information about the fundraiser can be downloaded. We also issue press releases to the Catholic media groups which has led to exposure in some of their publications and on Catholic radio.

What do you like most about your job?
I like the hands-on nature of the job and being involved in so many different functions and activities. I also enjoy working within a timeline and being able to see the end result of my hard work.

What other promotions are you working on?
We have consumer promotions running quite regularly on different brands at different times of the year. We hope that this is the first of many hot cross bun drives, depending on the success of this year.