BEEF’S catchy new domestic marketing campaign aims straight for the heart.
Australian beef is the greatest meat on earth, it tells consumers, and it uses the likes of Aussie greats Olympic gold medallist Liesel Jones, legendary cricket commentator Bill Lawry and actor Kate Ritchie and to reinforce that.
Television commercials and online content feature iconic landmarks and the passionate people behind the counter at butcher shop to show how one misguided customer’s request for “just a rump” fails to do justice to the greatest of beef.
It’s a direct attempt to tap into the growing value consumers are placing on provenance and the minds steering Meat and Livestock Australia’s domestic marketing platform are confident that is worth targeting strongly.
“At end of the day, the greatest meat on earth concept is about reconnecting with Australians on an emotion level, inspiring them to eat more beef more often,” said MLA group marketing manager Andrew Howie.
The new strategy builds in messages of versatility, nutrition, welfare, sustainability and eating quality.
Those pillars have always been part of beef’s brand marketing, with nutrition at the forefront in recent years.
MLA is now looking to broaden the communications across the other key benefits.
Mr Howie explained the tactical shift follows extensive consumer insight research.
“When consumers think value, it’s the benefits that a product provides divided by its price,” he said.
“A consumer will see value in something if the number of benefits outweighs the price.
“To ensure they see value in beef, we are increasing the number of benefits appreciated relative to price.”
When one drills down the research data around country of origin, it’s clear when consumers are aware of where a product is manufactured or produced there is a propensity to choose that product, according to Mr Howie.
Beef’s key competitors - take pork for instance - are certainly calling out their origin.
This new domestic platform is a deliberate strategy to reinforce beef is grown here in Australia, Mr Howie said.
The campaign acknowledges the need for the beef industry to find ways to continue generating value for consumers in the face of four key challenges - consumer willingness to pay a premium for beef, changing population mix, changing lifestyles and proliferation of media, he said.
It will also include a radio partnership to further drive engagement among younger audiences.
And there is also a move towards year-round promotion.
“Seasonality does remain important. We have distinct periods of communication - July and August for winter; October and November runing into summer months and back again in autumn,” Mr Howie said.
“We have scaled those peaks back a bit in order to run the campaign year round.
“We recognise we need a more consistent presence to ensure our product is top-of-mind with consumers all year round.”